The Nightmare Before Moonrise
by Yoda's Padawan
Summary: When an evil, blood lusting, murderous bot is on the loose that wants to kill everyone and anyone on the loose, what can the Maximals do? The bot claims to belong to no faction and kills both Maximal and Predacon without thinking. Rated T to be safe.
1. A Murder and the Murderer's plans

**Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers: Beast Wars or anything related to that. I own Pantha, TriDrac and Orcus. Midnight too.** **So please don't sue the poor obsessed fan girl...**

RG: Let me just say...this is probably going to be one of the darkest fics I'm going to do. Gruesome is not usually my style...

Rampage: Could have fooled me.

RG: (Sweatdrops) Where's my bazooka of justice?

Rampage: (Runs)

TriDrac: Top left drawer.

RG: Thank you. Onto the story!  
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"C'mon, Tri!" Pantha grinned as she and TriDrac walked through the forest. "Hurry! The sun'll set soon and I want you to see the beauty it offers when the sun goes down!"

The Komodo dragon sighed and quickened his pace, smiling. TriDrac looked at the femme that he had grown up with and was like his sister. "Hey, Pantha! Exactly _where_ are ya takin' me? Anywhere near Pred territory?" He asked, looking at Pantha.

"No!" The panther-femme laughed as she ran over to TriDrac and grabbed his arm. She started to pull him gently. "C'mon! I'm taking you to the lake I _love _to go to when I'm about to kill Rattrap."

TriDrac let out laugh. He knew how much Rattrap annoyed Pantha even though the femme tried her best to measure up to the legacy Optimus Primal left behind him. "Well then, it should be a good place considering you haven't kill the poor rat yet." The Komodo smiled as Pantha let go of his arm and ran ahead. TriDrac grinned and ran after the femme, remembering back when he and her were on Cybertron and nothing more than carefree sparklings. Pantha and the Komodo Dragon, TriDrac, charged into the clearing just a little to fast. As a result, the intoxicating stench of oil mixed with freashly spilt Energon hit their sensitive nostrils full on like a wet blanket.

The smell, however, was a warning of what was to come...

Midnight, an owl femme who had only recently cralwed out of her pod, laid in not whole, but pieces on the ground. Her delicate feathers were ripped off of her wings and strewn about wildly as if a mad Pit Bull had mauled a down pillow. The Owl's chest was sheered open, revealing the spark chamber, which was crushed beyond recognition. The poor femme's young, beautiful head and face were twisted and controrted in pain and unrelenting fear; her usually bright, blue optics were now black with death. The ground itself was stained with a layer of mech fluid that got increasingly thicker towards the center, where most of the carnage was. Tree and bushes were broken and some even mangled, depitctin the struggle that must have taken place just moments before, resulting in the young Maximal loosing her life.

Both the feline and the lizard gasped, covering their mouths, afraid they would gag.

"Who-Who would do this? And to her?" Pantha managed to said, her voice wavering with terror. She elt warm tears come to her optics as she walked forwards. The femme swallowed. "No…Midnight…" Pantha whispered, "By the Allspark, what the slag happened here? Why would anybody do this to such a sweet girl like Midnight?"

TriDrac looked at the femme and then at the pieces of the Maximal that looked like they were torn from Midnight's body while she was still alive and thrashing. "I dunno, P, but I do know that whatever did this-"

A cold, eerie voice interrupted TriDrac. "Whatever did this is still here, watching you. He also wants to do this again…and soon…he wants to rip you apart limb by limb while you scream and thrash and then crush your spark in his claws!" The voice laughed.

Pantha shivered as the voice laughed a cold, loud, evil laugh. She backed up, scared to death, and ran into TriDrac. The femme felt the dragon wrap his arms around her and pull her into a comforting hug like a brother would his scared sister as the laugh died away into the oncoming night. "Tr-Tri? What the _slag_ was that?" Pantha asked, her frightened voice betraying her calm appearance.

"I dunno, Pantha, but I do know that that…thing did this and it wants to do it again like it said…" TriDrac muttered as he hugged Pantha, "We need to tell the others. They need to know about this monster…"

Pantha nodded. "Yeah, but first, let's get Midnight out of here and back to the _Axalon_. She deserves better than this…even Megatron would deserve better than this…" The Maximal leader shuddered.

TriDrac nodded and helped his best friend collect the pieces of Midnight's torn and battered corpse. The two quickly collected all of Midnight's body and headed back to the Maximal base.  
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Once back at the base, TriDrac and Pantha carried the pieces of Midnight's dead and broken body into the med bay. The dragon laid them on a bed as Pantha got out her toolbox. "You got tell the others…" The femme said softly, "I'll try to fix Midnight's body the best I can. For her and her brother."

TriDrac hugged his best friend gently and then nodded. He turned and headed towards the control room, sighing. Behind him, he could hear the tools clattering together as Pantha struggled to fix Midnight without breaking down and crying. She was just a kid. She shouldn't have had to go through the torture and the pain that she did. "Midnight…" He whispered. "I'll make sure your brother doesn't do anything rash to get the person that did that to you…I also won't let the…thing that did to you get away with killing you, This, I promise you. And I am a Maximal of my word."

The Komodo dragon took a deep breath and then walked into the control room. He looked at the others Maximals. "My friends…Pantha and I found something outside the forest that we think you should know. I'm afraid…"

"What happened, kid?" Rattrap asked, looking at the boy. "What's so bad dat it's got ya 'bout teh cry?"

"Midnight was found…dead…in the forest." TriDrac swallowed.

"What? No!" NightScream yelled, his optics filled with tears. "No! No! Not her! You're lying!"

"I'm afraid not, NightScream. I'm sorry." The Komodo dragon said softly.

"No…"

"What happened?" SilverBolt asked, looking at TriDrac.

TriDrac took a deep breath and told the entire Maximal crew what he and Pantha had seen. He stopped a couple times to swallow his tears and then continued. Once he finished, the Komodo looked at everyone and saw their horrified faces. The one he studied the most, though, was NightScream's, who's was a mixture of horror, sadness, guilt and pain. "NightScream, I'm sorry."

"Oh man…" Cheetor muttered, shaking his head sadly. "Poor Midnight…"

Dinobot let out his growl-like sigh. "The femme had just woken up from her stasis pod slumber…" He said sadly, looking at TriDrac.

"I was just getting used to her attitude…" BlackArachnia said sighed. "Do you know who did it?"

TriDrac shook his head again. "No. The voice was a new one and Pantha didn't say anything about recognizing it, which you know she would have yelled and cursed the person out if she had."

"Tri?" NightScream asked softly as tears brimmed his optics. "I don't think even Megatron would go as far as ripping another 'bot to pieces like that…"

The Komodo dragon nodded. He knew NightScream was right. TriDrac sighed. "I know, NightScream. We've got trouble..."

"Big trouble." A quiet, soft voice said. "A psycho's on the loose who rips Transformers apart while they're still alive…" The tired voice shuddered.

The Maximals turned and saw Pantha standing in the doorway to the control room. She smiled softly. "Hi guys."

"Big cat?" Cheetor blinked.

"P?" TriDrac asked.

"I finished quickly." Pantha explained. "I didn't want to see my friend like that…I hurried. She's fixed now…" The femme whispered the last part. "Yes, Cheetor?"

Cheetor opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it. He looked at NightScream, who had tears in his optics, and sighed. "Night-"

"Don't talk to me!" NightScream yelled. "Don't you _dare _talk to me!" The bat 'bot sobbed once and then started to cry.

"What'd I say?" Cheetor asked, looking at the other Maximals.

Rattrap looked at the bat and shook his head. "Kiddo…"

"Cheetor…" Pantha said softly as she walked over to NightScream. She hugged the bot warmly. "Midnight was NightScream's sister."

NightScream sobbed loudly now that everyone knew as the Maximals exchanged uncomfortable and sad glances. "Mid-midnight was supposed to st-stay on Cy-Cybertron, but she-she disobeyed me and came aboard. If-If I just always stayed by-by her s-side and pr-protected her, sh-she would st-still be a-a-alive!" He sobbed as his tears rolled off his cheeks onto Pantha's shoulder. "I-I never i-imaged this would-this would…"

"Shh…" Pantha whispered. "Don't cry, NightScream. Please don't cry."

Cheetor looked at TriDrac and then at the ground. He felt terrible. "I'm sorry…I didn't know…"

Rattrap looked at Dinobot. "We'll go scan for dat monster…" He said softly, "Don't worry, NightScream, we'll get that bastard fer what he did ta yer sista. I promise. Let's go, Chopperface."

Dinobot didn't even bother to insult or shoot a comeback back at Rattrap as the two walked over to the scanners. BlackArachnia and SilverBolt looked at each other and then edged out of the room.

TriDrac looked at Pantha and then at Cheetor. "Cheetor. Go to the holding cells. Make sure Rampage is still there." He said after a minute of silence.

"I already did…" Cheetor muttered. He looked at NightScream's sobbing form and then walked towards the exit. "On second thought…I'll go do that. Maybe he got out after I left…"

NightScream trembled as he pushed away from Pantha. He was no longer sobbing, but tears brimmed his optics, threatening to fall again. "Mid-Midnight…where's her bod-body?"

"NightScream," The Maximal leader started, "I don't think you should see her. Not yet. Not while the wound's still fresh and raw."

"Pantha…" NightScream started, but stopped. "You're right…"

"C'mon, I'll take you to your room. Tri, do you think-"

"I got everything covered, P." TriDrac said, smiling softly. "Don't worry. Just make sure NightScream gets to his room safely and gets some sleep."

"And I thought _I_ was commander." Pantha smiled softly before putting her arm around NightScream and leading him towards his quarters.

TriDrac watched his best friend and NightScream walk out of the control room and he smiled slightly. His smile faded, however, when he looked at the two remaining 'bots in the room. "Anything, Rattrap?" He asked.

The rat shook his head. "Nothin', kid." Rattrap muttered. "Not even a Pred out fer a walk."

"Dinobot?"

"Negative…" Dinobot said in his growl/sigh voice.

TriDrac sighed as he walked over to a computer. He plugged himself into it. "I'll be offline for a few cycles. Try not to kill each other." The Komodo smiled weakly before going offline.

Dinobot let out a growl while Rattrap continued to type.  
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Meanwhile, out in the forest, two, blood red optics with a sadist look in them examined the ship they had just seen two mechs walk in with his latest victim. The face they belonged to smiled. "So…the little fighter had friends…well, they'll be next…" A cold, unfeeling male voice grinned from the branch it was sitting on. "But first…"

A cry was heard and then a loud, sickening 'snap'. Something hit the forest floor with a sickening, wet 'smack'. "Heh. That was fun. Too bad the animal didn't fight back as much as the femme did…I enjoyed killing her…hehehe…the way she screamed when I slowly crushed her spark in my head…the way she tried to fight me when I pinned her against the tree using my sword…it was so enjoyable…" The dark figure stopped talking and licked some Energon off his claws. He examined them and then wiggled an ear. "I only wish I could have dragged her death out a little longer…her screams were music to my ears…the fright in her beautiful optics as I ripped her power converter out…" The mech laughed and then looked at the _Axalon II._ "You had better enjoy what little time you have left before I find you, my friends, because when I find you…you won't last long…"

Pantha: Ooh...that last part was a little dark...

TriDrac: Yeah. No kidding.

Rampage: The psycho's me, ain't it?

RG: Nope.

Rampage: (Anime fall)

Pantha: Wait a sec, how'd you get out of the wall? (Points to wall where Rampage had crawled through the two inch hole)

Rampage: (Shrugs) I dunno. I'm a cartoon character. Figure it out.

RG: (Sighs and pushed everyone back into their respective RPGs/Fan-Fics) _Anywho..._Read and review, please! No reviews, no new chap! (Gets a sticky note shoved in face) Ow. What the-? (Reads) Duh! I forgot to thank Storm Blue Lightning Saix for helping me on this fic. Thanks, sis! Hope you like it!


	2. Captured, Kissed, Tortured

**Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers: Beast Wars or anything of the sorts. I own Pantha, TriDrac and Orcus. So please, please _please _don't sue this obsessed fan-girl. Thank you.**

RG: Ooh. Pantha's gonna kill me. (Hides behind Rampage)

TriDrac: What'd you do to her now?

RG: Read the chap. I tell you, this one popped in my head last night as a nightmare and I woke up. Couldn't go to sleep after that, so I stayed up until I finally fell asleep writing this.

Rampage: (Reads) You're evil. I don't think even I could come up with this...wait...

RG: Don't even think about.

Rampage: I'm only going to kill the people that read it and didn't review.

RG: (Thinks) Okay.

TriDrac: (Faceplams)

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Pantha looked at the pure, star filled nighttime sky and let out a long, peaceful sigh. She was enjoying sitting outside, alone, for the first time since Midnight's torn and battered body had been found. Even thought the femme knew she was going to get her delicate cat ears yelled off for disobeying her own orders that everyone must not go outside alone when she got back to the _Axalon II_, Pantha didn't care. She needed this time alone. Her wild cat spirit needed the freedom, the wonderful, carefree freedom the forest offered, even if being in the forest alone, laying on your back, watching the stars with your comm. cut off was dangerous. Pantha still didn't care. The femme truly didn't care as much as she should have…

"Beautiful…" The feline femme whispered, looking at the stars. "The stars have such beauty…especially tonight…they seem much brighter…" Pantha smiled slightly and sat up. "I needed this. I needed to relax…what with Rattrap breathing down and…Midnight's death haunting me so…the look of horror on her face…" She shivered.

A cold, evil laugh came from behind Pantha. "So you enjoyed seeing my handiwork? I plan to do much worse to you, my dear…"

Pantha's optics widened and the femme turned around, but before she could do anything, a white hot, searing pain came from the back of her head and darkness consumed the feline's vision. She let out a loan groan as she fell backwards. The last thing the young commander heard before completely blacking out was the sick, evil laughter ringing in her delicate ears.

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Pantha let out a low moan as her senses started to come back online. Her right ear twitched and the young femme opened her green optics. The first thing she realized once she had fully finished coming back online was that she was standing up, tied to a huge oak tree with purple energy ropes. The cat's optics widened and she started to struggle against the bindings.

A voice chuckled darkly. "Don't bother. Save your strength for more important things…like screaming."

Pantha's head shot up towards the voice. There, leaning on a different tree, was her attacker/captor. She let out a hiss and her ears flattened against the back of her head.

The mech's beast was a werewolf with snow-white fur. His beast mode's head was his chest plate, like Dinobot's. He kept his beast mode's legs even in 'bot mode and his arms weren't his beast mode's arms, but they were still as muscled up as werewolf's arms and had sharp claws on each finger. The werewolf had a furry tail that was, at the moment, swishing from side to side. Attached to what looked like a belt that was across his waist, the werewolf had a dagger in a sheath and a blaster. His face had a sick, twisted smile on it and his optics were a blood red color that had a blood lusting look in them that burning into Pantha's soul and made the catbot swallow. His smile made Pantha start to struggle again. "Now, now," The werewolf grinned, walking over to the cat, "Don't struggle. You'll only make things worst…for yourself, that is."

Pantha cringed at the hopeful look in the mech's optics. "What do you want?" Funny. She hadn't meant to sound so…scared.

"Everything I can get these claws of mine on dead." The werewolf growled, showing Pantha his sharp claws.

Pantha's gaze went from a look of fright to a look a pure hatred. "Do what you want to me, but leave my Maximals alone!" She spat, "You Predacon!"

The mech looked at Pantha for a minute and then busted out laughing. "Predacon?" He chuckled darkly, "I belong to no faction, my dear. I kill and do what it is I do because I enjoy it! I've actually killed a few Predacons too, but it's much more satisfying to kill Maximals. Especially femmes." Here, the werewolf grin widened and his tail lifted into the air and touched Pantha's cheek gently. "They're screams are music to my ears..."

The young Maximal commander swallowed. Sure, she was scared, but she was determined not to show it. She was _not _going to let this monster see the fear she was determined to hide. The fear that she never showed anyone, not even Megatron. "Monster…you killed Midnight because…you…you monster…" Pantha whispered, glaring at the werewolf.

The mech laughed. He touched Pantha's other cheek with the back of his clawed fingers gently and the Maximal moved away. Pantha hissed and tried to bite the werewolf's hand, but he managed to move it away. "Glitch." The werewolf growled, slapping Pantha. "You're only making your death much more worse than it has to be."

"Bite me, you sickening piece of slag!" Pantha hissed, her optics burning with an undying hatred.

The werewolf grinned, as if he had waiting for those words, and covered Pantha's mouth tightly. "As you wish." He smiled as he neared her neck. The wolf growled and bit down. Hard.

Pantha bit her tongue, determined not to let the wolf know how much she wanted to scream. Tears filled the young femme's optics. _Primus, help me. TriDrac…someone…please…_She thought as the taste of Energon filled her mouth. _Father…_

When the werewolf finally let go of Pantha's neck, his face from the mouth down was covered with Energon. He removed his hand from Pantha's mouth and licked the Energon off his fingers. "The sweetest Energon comes from an innocent femme…"

Pantha refused to let the tears fall as her neck throbbed with pain. "I'll kill you." She growled, her voice hard and her optics burning brighter with even more hatred.

"Will you now?" The white mech asked, putting him hand behind Pantha's head. "You've got a strong will. I knew a few mechs who had very strong wills too…but even they broke after a while. Let's see how long _you _last, shall we?" He asked, leaning down and pulling Pantha's head up.

Pantha's green optics widened as her lips touched his. She could taste the Energon on the mech's lips. _Her _Energon. The Maximal leader tried to struggle, but the werewolf held her head firmly and kept her lips pressed against his as he deepened the forced kiss. The tears the femme had been trying to keep hidden finally fell as the werewolf touched her two sharpest fangs with his tongue.

Pantha's captor's tail finally found her slender, black tail and twisted his around hers. He finally released the crying femme from the kiss and grinned his sadistic grin. His finger touched Pantha's chest plate gently and ran down to her stomach. "Broken." The mech finally whispered, smiling.

"You can't…" Pantha growled through her tears, "break this femme that easily. No one can break this cat…I've got a wild spirit no one can tame or break."

"That's what you think."

"No." Pantha shuddered as the werewolf wrapped his hands around her slender waist. "That's what I know."

"Well, we'll just see about that, won't we?" The wolf 'bot smiled before pulling Pantha into another kiss. This one, however, was only a few seconds, but it was enough to make the femme's stomach turn. "Now," The mech growled, smiling, after he had let her go, "let's see what it'll take to break your so called 'wild' spirit."

Pantha's optics widened again as the werewolf pulled out an Energon knife, like the one Megatron used to separate Rampage's spark, and placed it on her chest. "What-What are you going to do?" She asked, looking at the mech, fear evident in her voice.

The wolf didn't answer as he pulled the blade downwards, cutting the femme's chest open. He grinned evily as Energon bled from the wound freely.

Pantha bit her lip again. She was not, _not _going to scream. The mech wasn't going to have the satisfaction of hearing her scream. Pantha had held in the pain for this long, why start screaming now? Megatron couldn't make her scream or show her pain. Neither could her so-called "friends" that teased her and beat her back on Cybertron just because her father was Tankor. Why scream for this psycho? Pantha bit her lip harder and arched her back with pain as the werewolf dug his blade into her chest harder and deeper. The taste of Energon filled the femme's mouth again, but the stubborn Maximal refused to cry out.

The werewolf finally stopped cutting once her reached Pantha's stomach. He put the blade away and reached into Pantha's chest. His face, which was lit up by the bright blue light that was coming from the femme's spark, was twisted into a sick, sadistic grin. The mech wrapped his hand around the spark gently, like he was holding glass, and then started to squeeze.

Pantha struggled to hold in her scream, but all the pain, fear and hatred she always kept hidden finally broke free. She let out a scream. The most pain filled, terrirfied scream you'll ever hear tore itself from the femme's bleeding lips. Her optics flickered as she arched her back as far as she could. The ropes that held her to the tree threatened to break.

The wolf stopped squeezing the blue spark after a minute and removed his hand from Pantha's chest. He watched Pantha stop screaming and then looked at the panting femme. He touched her cheek gently. The mech grinned as she flinched. "What's wrong?"

"You…fragger…" Pantha panted, "You…cut me…squeeze my spark…and then dare to ask me…what's wrong?" She asked, straitening up. The femme swallowed. "You made me scream…no one's ever made me scream…"

"So?" The werewolf grinned.

"I won't rest until you die…" Pantha groaned. "No one makes me scream…and gets away with it."

"We'll see about that, my dear." He said, pulling out his dagger. The mech sliced through the bindings that held Pantha to the tree and then grinned as the femme fell to the ground. "I quite enjoyed your scream. It was…the most beautiful thing I've heard."

"Go to the pit." Pantha spat.

"Been there. Done that."

Pantha groaned as her optics flickered. She struggled to stand, but ended up just falling on her stomach. "I hope Primus-AAH!" She yelled as the werewolf stomped on her back.

"DON'T YOU EVER MENTION PRIMUS AROUND ME, FEMME!" The mech spat. He stepped on Pantha's back one last time before stepping away. "Understand?"

"Screw you." Pantha panted, her voice filled with pain.

The werewolf laughed. "Life's already screwed me, my dear. It's my job to make sure others feel the pain I feel. Now…" He kicked Pantha in the side, making her roll over, "Prepare to die."

Pantha let out a groan as the werewolf grabbed her arm and started to pull it.

"PANTHA!" A voice yelled. The werewolf looked up and was blasted backwards. "Pantha!"

"T-Tri?" Pantha asked, her optics dull.

The Komodo ran over to the feline and picked her up gently. "It's okay, Pantha. I'm here. I won't let him hurt you anymore." He promised.

The werewolf smiled. "I'll be back later, my dear." He looked at Pantha. "Remember my name and it's meaning. Orcus."

"Orcus…" Pantha whispered before her optics clicked off. "Tri…Cheetor's…in charge…until I…wake up…if I don't…" She stopped and took in a sharp gasp of pain.

"You'll make it, P. I promise." TriDrac whispered.

"If I don't…" The feline continued, "Tell Cheetor…I know he'll make a great leader…Optimus trusted him and…so do I…" With that, the panther femme groaned and went limp.

"Pantha! Hold on, P!" TriDrac yelled before starting to run towards the _Axalon II._ **TriDrac to the base! Prepare a CR Chamber! Now! Pantha's injured!**He yelled into his comm.

**You got it, TriDrac!** Cheetor's voice came in through the comm..

"You'll be okay, Pantha. I promise." TriDrac whispered as the _Axalon _came into view. "Just hold on...please...hold on..."

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RG: See?

TriDrac: Slag. (Blinks) You feeling okay?

RG: Nightmare. Plus I'm feeling evil today.

Rampage: I can tell.

RG: (Sweatdrops) Gee, thanks, Rampage. Anywho, **R**&**R** please. No reviews, no new chappie!

Pantha: (Runs into room) Where the slag is RG!

RG: Uh-oh. (Runs for life)


	3. Another death

**Disclaimer: Don't own Transformers. Never will. Own TriDrac, Tolero, Pantha and Orcus. Don't sue me. Please.**

Pantha: (Drags in a VERY beat up RG) Write the next chapter. Now!

RG: I jus' finished. Ow.

Pantha: Good. You killed off who I wanted to kill off, right?

RG: (Nods slowly)

Pantha: Good.

RG: Can I go now?

Pantha: (Lets go of RG and the girl runs for her life) Right...onto the newest chap!

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TriDrac sighed a heavy sigh as he tapped his claws against the desk in front of him, making a rapid and somewhat annoying "_Click, click, click, click, click._" He swallowed nervously as he looked at the "clock" on the wall. Pantha had been in the CR Chamber for over four Megacycles and still no word on whether the young commander would live or not. TriDrac sighed again and stood up. He walked away from his desk and headed towards the control room. Once the Komodo had the Transmetal 2 Dinobot in his sights, he ran over to him and swallowed. "Any news, Dinobot?" TriDrac asked, his optics showing the hope he tried to hide.

Dinobot looked at TriDrac and let out another one of his famous sigh/growls. "Yes." He muttered, growling slightly. The dino saw the eagerness in the lizard's optics and he continued. "Pantha's out of the chamber. She's in her room, resting."

TriDrac turned to go, but Dinobot shook his head. "What, Dinobot?" The Komodo asked Dinobot, looking at him. "What's wrong?"

SilverBolt walked into the room before the dino could answer and looked at Dinobot. "She won't say anything. I tried talking to her, but all she did was stare into space, her optics dull. I'm afraid whatever that monster did to her..." The mech stopped when he realized that TriDrac was still in the room. "Uh-oh."

"What's wrong with Pantha?" TriDrac growled. When SilverBolt, the lizard growled louder, "What's. Wrong. With. Pantha. Tell me, SilverBolt, unless you want me to rip your optics out." He threatened.

SilverBolt sighed and shook his head, unfazed by TriDrac's threat. "I'm afraid Pantha won't speak. Her optics are dull and she continues to stare into space..." He sighed again, only heavier, and looked at the two mechs in front of him. "I don't know what to say that will make her snap out of it."

"I'm going to go talk to her." TriDrac growled. "I know her better than any of you. I need to talk to her."

"Is that wise, TriDrac?" A new voice asked. Everyone turned and saw Cheetor. The cat continued to address the lizard. "I mean, if you see her the way she looks right now, won't that make you angry? Won't that make you do something rash? Something you'll regret?" He asked.

TriDrac swallowed. He remained silent for a moment and then looked at Cheetor, his optics showing an emotion no one had ever seen the Komodo use before. Desperation. "Please, Cheetor." He said after a minute. "I need to see her. I need to talk to her. I could be the only one that'll get her to talk." He begged.

Cheetor sighed. He looked at the other three mechs in the room and then nodded. "Alright. You can see her."

TriDrac smiled and ran out of the room, his lizard tail making a "_thump_" each time it hit the ground. The other three Maximals watched TriDrac head off towards Pantha's room and SilverBolt shook his head. "Those two...have a bond." He said after a minute. "A deep bond I don't think anything can break."

"Yeah." Cheetor nodded. "Maybe that's why TriDrac ran off when he did. Because he sensed Pantha's pain through their bond?" He guessed, folding his arms.

Dinobot snorted and walked off, though, in his mind he wondered the same thing the other two Maximals were wondering. If the two did have a bond, why was it so deep. After all, the two were only friends. Beast friends, sure, but even that isn't strong enough to make a bond like the one TriDrac and Pantha had. Then again, it had to be. After all, they were just friends. Right?

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Footsteps and loud "_thumps_" were heard echoing through the _Axalon II_'s halls as TriDrac ran towards his friend's room. The dragon made a quick, left after a minute and stopped running as his entered the femme's room. He saw Pantha sitting on her bed, staring into space, a look on her face that was unreadable. "Pantha?" TriDrac asked softly, walking into the room, his tail above the ground so it didn't make a loud noise that would startle the femme. "You okay?"

Pantha looked away from the same spot she had been staring at since she had came out of the CR Chamber and looked at TriDrac, optics dull. However, her optics brightened back to their usual bright green when she saw it wasn't SilverBolt who had come to check on her, but TriDrac. "Tri!" The femme smiled, standing up. "Yeah, I'm okay. Any luck on finding Orcus?" She asked, no trace of the fear and hate TriDrac had seen earlier left in her optics.

The Komodo Dragon shook his head. "No, I'm sorry, Pantha, but Rattrap and Dinobot are still looking and scanning." He said with a slight smile. TriDrac grinned and pulled his best friend into a hug, "Pantha, Pantha, Pantha! You sure you're okay? 'Bolt said..."

"Hey," Pantha smiled. "You can't throw anything at this femme that she can't and won't catch only to throw back at you." She said, breaking the hug. "Did that make any sense whatsoever?"

TriDrac laughed. "Yeah, it did." He smiled. "Pantha, I'm so sorry I didn't get to you in time to stop that creep from squeezing your spark. I should have-"

Pantha held a finger to his metallic lips. "No. It's my fault. Don't beat yourself up because I couldn't stand to be cooped up in here any longer. I needed the freedom and I was willing to take the risk. Look what being a stupid femme got me." She said, pointing to the scar going down her chest and the fang marks on her neck. "But don't worry, Tri, scars'll fade. These will too." The femme smiled and hugged the uncomfortable mech. "Like I said, don't worry."

* * *

Meanwhile, as TriDrac had said, Rattrap and Dinobot were scanning while SilverBolt and Cheetor were talking in the control room about the little werewolf. Cheetor held up his hand, telling SilverBolt to hold on for a minute, when Rattrap said something. "What was that, Rattrap?" He asked the rat. 

"I said dat we got two Pred sigs." Rattrap sighed. "Terrorsaur and Waspinator. Also a third, unknown, signal." He added.

Cheetor nodded. "Dinobot?"

"They're...in Maximal territory." Dinobot growled. "And getting close to the base. Or, at least they were. Now, they seemed to have...stopped. They're not moving at all. They appear to be fighting the third signal."

SilverBolt flashed Cheetor a worried look. "Who appears to be winning?" He asked nervously.

"De third signal." Rattrap said gravely. "Not dat Waspy and Terrorsaur are strong, but you would expect dem to be somewhat of a match for dis guy." He sighed, shaking his head.

"What do you mean by that? What's going on?" Cheetor's and Pantha's voices said at the same time.

Everyone glanced at the Maximal commander and then went back to work.

"Yer 'friend' came out of hiding." Rattrap explained. He saw Pantha's optic twitch at the word 'friend' and decided, for the first time since the two met, to give the leader a little break and not push the issue. "Sorry. He's fightin' Waspinator an' Terrorsaur. An' the two Preds don't seem ta be fairin' too well..."

"Slag. Dinobot, Cheetor, let's go." Pantha said, narrowing her optics. She transformed into beast mode and waited for the other two to transform.

Dinobot and Cheetor looked at each other. They looked at Pantha and the femme let out a growl that said "say anything and you'll wish you never agreed to come on this mission". The two transformed immediantly. Rattrap looked at the three. "Eh, I'm comin' too, boss lady."

Pantha let out a growl, but nodded. She watched Rattrap transform and then ran out of the base. The three mechs looked at each other, nervously, and then shot out after their leader. The four headed towards the coordinates SilverBolt told them. After a little bit of running (okay, about two miles to be exact), the four transformed and causously walked through the brush and undergrowth until they were only a few yards away from the place where the battle was supposed to be. All four looked at each other as a foul odor hit their noses. Rattrap waved his hands. "It ain't me, I swear!" He said, shaking his head.

"For once, the vermin is correct." Dinobot growled. "This smell is far worse the rodent could ever hope to be. And I thought that wasn't possible."

"Thanks, Chopperface." Rattrap smiled. "Heeeeeeey!"

Cheetor and Pantha gave each other deadpan looks and then walked through the brush, leaving Dinobot and Rattrap to bicker. The two cats finally managed to get out of the brush and undergrowth and gasped. On the ground in the clearing in front of them, lay pieces of Terrorsaur. They were ripped, torn, battered and thrown around in a way that was identical to way that Pantha and TriDrac had found Midnight. Meh fluid and oil covered the ground and were thicker in some places than others. The cats felt sick to their stomachs instantly. "Big cat?" Cheetor asked, looking at Pantha.

Pantha shook her head and looked away. However, her head turned back to the carnage when a low groan was heard. "Shh, Cheetor. Did you hear that?"

Cheetor nodded. "What is it?"

"Shh. I'm about to find out." Pantha said, holding a finger to her lips. She walked around the clearing, carefully stepping over Terrorsaur's various body parts, and made her way over to a tree. The cat pulled out a taser and walked around to the other side of it. There, she let out a gasp. "Cheetor, Dinobot, Rattrap, come here! Now!"

Dinobot and Rattrap ran over to Cheetor. "Did she-"

"C'mon!" Cheetor said before sprinting over to where Pantha was. He gasped.

There, pinned onto the tree like a trophy, was Waspinator. He had knives and shurikens through all of his wings and even through his arms and legs, pinning him to the tree. The wasp let out another groan as he looked up. His optics instantly widened with terror. "What Maximals going to do to poor Wazzpinator?" He asked, fear in his voice.

"Good question, bug boy." Rattrap growled. "What do you think? Leave him here?"

Pantha growled and wapped Rattrap upside the head. "We're Maximals, we can't do that!"

"I agree with the rat." Dinobot growled. "We have no use for the bug and he can't do us any harm sitting here."

Waspinator's optics widened even farther. He tried to struggle to get away from Dinobot as the dino sniffed him. The bug let out a cry of pain as the knives sug deeper into his wings, legs and arms. "Pleazzz help Wazzpinator. Wazzpinator hurt...Wazzpinator can't hurt Maxximalzz like this..."

"I still say we leave the bug." Rattrap growled, folding his arms.

Pantha looked at Cheetor. "Well? Don't you have an opinion?"

Cheetor sighed and looked at Waspinator. "He's hurt. He was attacked by an enemy both Maximals and Predacons now share...yet he _is _a Predacon..." The cat looked at Pantha, "I don't know what to say, Big Cat."

Pantha sighed and nodded. "I understand where you two are coming from, believe me, I do. But look at him. He's a sitting duck if this psycho comes back." She pointed out. "Does he think you're dead, Waspinator?"

Waspinator looked at Pantha, suprised that the Maximal leader would be talking to him like he was a normal person instead of a Predacon. "Wazzpinator thinks so. Wazzpinator acted dead after wolfbot pinned Wazzpinator up here and wolfbot left. Flyer's screams still ring in Wazzpinator's audios." He shivered.

Pantha nodded. "So think about it, my friends." She turned back to the other Maximals, "If this guys smells Waspinator and realizes he's alive...Think about what he'll do to the poor bot."

Rattrap growled, but thought about it. Dinobot, on the other hand, just turned the other cheek and started to sniff the air.

Pantha sighed and looked at Cheetor. The cheetah shrugged. "You're choice, Big Cat." He said after a minute. "We can't argue with you." Cheetor muttered. He looked at Waspinator and his optics softened as he saw the energon that fell from the wasp's wounds.

"Thank you, Cheetor." Pantha said before turning back to Waspinator. The femme held the wasp in place by putting her left arm around his waist and then looked Waspinator in the optics. "Waspinator, this will hurt. But only for a little bit. I promise."

Waspinator gulped. "What catbot going to do to poor Wazzpinator?"

"Catbot going to help." Pantha smiled softly before grabbing one of the knives in Waspinator's wings and pulling it out of the wing. She looked at Waspinator, concern on her face, when the wasp arched his back slightly and his wing went limp. "I told you this will hurt, just don't think about the pain and hold on." She said softly before pulling another knife out of the bot.

After about ten minutes, Pantha finally got all of the knives out of Waspinator's wings and limbs and held the injured bot in her arms. She looked at the other Maximals. "Alright, now that that's taken care of, what do we do with Terrorsaur's...body?"

Dinobot opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off as a laser shot hit his chest. He stumbled backwards, suprised, but did not fall. The Transmetal 2 raptor let out a loud growl. He charged up his optic laser and looked around. "Who's there?" The mech growled.

Rattrap and Cheetor looked around as they pulled out their weapons. The two shivered as a cold , loud laugh rang through the forest. Waspinator started to shake in fear and clug to Pantha. Pantha looked at Waspinator and then gave Cheetor a deadpan look that said "Oy ve. Why me?" She sighed and held Waspinator in one hand while pulling out her sword with the other. "Cheetor, Rattrap, Dinobot, that's him. I know that laugh. Be careful!"

"That's the guy that did this!" Cheetor asked, pointing to Terrorsaur's remains. "Oh great..."

The laugh echoed and finally died away as the voice spoke. "So..seems as if I let someone live...not my style, but then again, I let you live..." Even though they couldn't see him, the Maximals knew he was grinning and that sent a chill down Pantha's spine. He continued, "But then again, why should I let the wasp live? He's not valuble to anyone...and I did quite enjoy pinning him to that tree..."

"Go slag yourself!" Pantha yelled, her nervous optics betraying her calm voice. "You're a worse monster than Rampage and Megatron put together!"

"For once, I agree with the boss lady." Rattrap growled, pulling out some of his bombs. "Yer sick!"

"Why thank you!" Orcus' voice laughed. "I enjoy what I do, I hope you like my latest work."

Dinobot growled. "You. Have. No. Honor."

"Oh?" Ocrus asked. "I don't believe I killed him while he was in stasis lock. He had enough time to fight me. He just didn't win." The werewolf shrugged from where he was hidden. All of a sudden, blasts came from one of the trees towards the Maximals.

Rattrap yelped and quickly managed to dodge. Dinobot, however, took the hit strait on, making him stumble backwards. Cheetor managed (somehow) to jump over the blast and Pantha rolled out of the way, still holding Waspinator. "Do you know how hard it is to dodge with you?" She asked the wasp as she threw a taser into the trees.

"Wazzpinator sorry..." The bug muttered as Pantha put him down to hide behind a tree.

"Stay there. You'll be safe...I hope." The femme muttered before running back to the others.

Dinobot growled as he clutched his chest. "I cannot...breathe...that well..."

"Posion." Cheetor and Pantha gasped. "The laser has posion in it! Slag!"

Rattrap looked at the two cats. "NOW ya tell us!"

"Shut up, Rattrap!" The two cats growled. They looked up into the trees and sniffed. "He's...gone!"

"What!" Dinobot growled. "That coward. How dare he leave when the battle just started!"

"Oh, sure, he can handle two Preds, but four Maxis, he cannot." Pantha smiled. "Let's get back to the _Axalon. _Dinobot, you need to get to a CR Chamber. The rest of us need to track this thing and figure out who he'll go for next."

Waspinator looked at the Maximals. "What about poor Wazzpinator?"

"Ya got 'im down, boss lady, let's go." Rattrap said, transforming.

Waspinator sighed. "Oh sure. Don't mind Wazzpinator. Wazzpinator just lie here and suffer. Drag himself back to base and into CR tank. Not fair. Everyone's always picking on me or leaving me..."

Pantha looked at the wasp and sighed. "We can't leave him here. He's too badly injured and his wounds are bleeding Energon. If he stays out here for too long and no one comes to save him..."

"Wazzpinator dies." The wasp sighed.

"So what? It's one less Pred to worry about." Rattrap asked before driving off.

"Even I can't leave the bug..." Dinobot growled.

"Code of honor. Gotta love it." Pantha smiled before picking the wasp up. She transformed and looked at the bot on her back. "Please hold on tight. Do not, at any time, atempt to stop the ride, fall off of ride or pull the ride's tail or ears. Thank you." The femme smiled before taking off towards the base.

Waspinator yelped as wrapped his arms around Pantha's neck, not tight enough to cut off any air, but tight enough so he wouldn't fall off. The bug closed his optics. "Wazzpinator thinks that Maximalzz don't like Wazzpinator..."

"Well, you did try to kill them." Pantha pointed out as Cheetor and Dinobot ran past her. The panther wasn't running as fast as she could because she didn't want to loose her injured passenger. "How long were you pinned up like that, Waspinator?"

"Wazzpinator pinned onto tree for about half mega-cycle. Wazzpinator wazzz pinned up when wolfbot killed flyer." The bug shuddered at the memory.

"Hold on, Waspinator." The femme said as she jumped over a fallen log. She felt Waspinator's head hit hers. "Ow! You okay?"

"Wazzpinator sick to stomach." The bug groaned.

"Great. Don't you dare throw up on the fur, Waspy, or I will drop you."

"Wazzpinator won't. Wazzpinator promiz."

"Good."

Pantha saw the_ Axalon _and smiled. "Almost there, Waspy." The femme said as she transformed. She caught the injured bug and walked into the base, getting looks from everyone. She carried the bug over to a CR Chamber and put him in. "Don't worry, Waspinator." The femme smiled, shutting the chamber's doors and then turning it on. Pantha finally turned to her fellow Maximals. "I take it you guys have questions?"

"Yes." SilverBolt nodded.

"No duh, kitty cat!" BlackArachnia growled. "Why is the bug-"

"Because he was pinned to a tree and helpless." Pantha said, arms crossed. "And I, for one, wasn't going to let that psycho werewolf get another chance to kill him. Even Predacons don't deserve to be destroyed that way!"

SilverBolt and BlackArachnie exchanged glaces. They knew the cat was right, but still it was dangerous to bring a Predacon into the Maximal base. The two sighed and then looked at the other occupied CR Chamber that held Dinobot. "That psycho has a posioness laser?" BlackArachnia asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah." Rattrap nodded as he and Cheetor walked into the room with a very worried TriDrac. "An' he's not afraid to use it. Dino-Butt only took one hit ta the chest and look where it got 'im. The CR Chamber for at least a mega cycle. De day jus' keeps gettin' worse and worse."

SilverBolt looked at Rattrap and Cheetor. He sighed. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with Rattrap. How do we fight this guy?"

"I don't know." Pantha sighed, shaking her head.

"Great. We're all gonna die." Rattrap sighed, shaking his head.

"Not if I can help it." Pantha growled. "TriDrac, NightScream, scan for that monster. SilverBolt, scan for pods. BlackArachnia, you and Rattrap work on boosting sentinel's power. I don't want Orcus getting in here." She looked at the others. "I'll get Dinobot to help when he gets out of the CR Chamber."

"What are you going to do, Big Cat?" Cheetor asked, looking at the femme.

"I'll go grab Terrorsaur's body. Cheetor, come with me."

"Wait, yer goin' back out der?" Rattrap asked as he looked at the two. "Dat's crazy! He could..."

"I know, but we need to get to his body. He doesn't deserve that..."

Cheetor sighed. "I agree. Let's go."

"But-" Rattrap started.

"Rattrap, please. For once, don't question me." Pantha sighed as she transformed. The two cats ran out of the base.

Rattrap looked at the others. "Well, you heard the boss lady. Let's go!" He said before walking out of the control room, BlackArachnia behind him.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, a cerntain psycho smiled as he 'played' with a new mech. Orcus grinned as he grabbed the poor bear mech's spark and squeezed. He grinned his sadistic grin as the mech in front of him screamed. Orcus let go of the spark and smiled as the mech, who he had strapped down to a table with cuts and dents all over his body, panted. The werewolf grinned. "Now what did you say your name was again?"

The bear let out a growl. "My name...is...Tolero." He said weakly. "I expect you to remember it..."

"Now, now, I can't make any promises. After all, once I've killed every living spark on this planet, I can't guarantee I'll remember half of them." Orcus shrugged. He smiled as Tolero let out a long roar. "Don't bother. You can't break free."

Tolero growled again as the cuts on his face and chest bled freely. He glared at Orcus. "I came back to life for a reason..." He said in calm, yet angry, voice. "I won't let you kill me..not yet..."

"Back to life, huh?" The werewolf asked, his face twisted into a sick grin. "Well then...let's see how determinded you are to stay alive..."

Tolero mearly let out another growl as Orcus reached into his chest. The werewolf let out a loud, painfilled roar as the bear bit his arm. "You forgot about my teeth." He growled.

"We'll see about that." Orcus growled as he reached into the bear's chest and quickly squeezed Tolero's spark hard, but not hard enough to extinguish the bear's soul.

The mech arched his back in pain as far as the straps holding him down would let him and let out a painfilled roar that was much louder that Orcus'. "STOP!" He managed.

The werewolf's grin only grew as he tightened the grip on the spark. He smiled as the spark dimmed, but let it go before it could fully go out. "That was fun."

"You sick...sadistic..." Tolero gasped. He looked at Orcus with buring blue optics. "You did this to everyone you killed?"

"And two I haven't...yet." The werewolf grinned. "But soon, they'll die along with the others." He smiled.

"If you don't mind me asking, Orcus." It was killing the bear to talk like this to that psycho. "Which two?"

"A wasp and a panther. Not a bad looking one either." Orcus grinned.

Tolero's optics widened with terror. "No!"

"Hmm? Oh, you're worried. Don't. They're alive. For now."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Pantha: Heh. You listened to me.

RG: Ow. I said I would.

Pantha: (Snorts) So who's the bear?

RG: You'll see. (Smiles evily)

TriDrac: I know. It's-(Mouth gets covered by RG)

RG: Nyah! They have to wait to find out!

TriDrac: (Muffled) Okay.

RG: Also, I would like to say that if you Read and don't Review, Orcus and Rampage WILL come after you. So Read and Review. Or else.

Orcus and Rampage: (Get out weapons)


	4. Don't really have a name for this chap

**Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, Beast Wars, yada-yada. I own Tolero, Pantha, Orcus, TriDrac and...I think that's all of them...so please, _please _don't sue me. I'm just an overly obsessed fan girl...**

RG: Alrighty then, before we began this chapter, I just have a few things to say-

Pantha: Make it quick. Like snapy.

RG: (Anime mad sign) Pantha. Get. In. The. Fan. Fiction.

Pantha: Fine. (Walks out of room)

RG: Right...anywho, I just wanted to thank RE for reviewing. (Hugs RE) Thankies! Also, I want to warn those of you that didn't that Orcus and Rampage are going to be set free tonight, so you'd better reivew. Also, I know I didn't do as good as of a job on the last chap with spelling, but I have an excuse!

Rampage: Of course.

RG: (Growls and pushes Rampage into a different Fan-Fic) Shut up. Anyways, I was over at my grandmother's house last night and she doesn't have Word, so I had to use Notepad. I tried my best, but the truth is I can't spell work a flip. This time, however, I'm going to do a much better job! I hope...anyways, thanks for reading my rambling and now...onto the story! (Falls) Ow.

* * *

Pantha yawned as she put her tools away. The femme looked at the finally repaired body of Terrorsaur and sighed. She shook her head. "The poor Pred. Even he didn't deserve that…" Pantha then turned her optics to the only other living mech in the room, NightScream, who was sitting by his sister's body, holding her hand and shaking. "NightScream…" The feline whispered, walking over to him. "You need sleep. You need to eat. Go." 

"Pantha…" NightScream started, "I can't. She's my sister. I can't…I mean…I just can't…"

"NightScream, I understand, but you can't kill yourself. You can't let the grief over take you." Pantha sighed. "Please, go eat something at the least. You haven't eaten since I allowed you to see Midnight…"

"I can't."

"NightScream, go eat. That's an order."

The bat looked at Pantha and sighed. He stood up and gave the cat a look of sadness and walked out of the room towards the rec room. Pantha sighed and looked at Midnight's now repaired body. A few feathers were missing, but she still looked like the spunky little femme that was NightScream's sister. "Poor Night'." The cat said, shaking her head. "I hope he'll be okay…Midnight's death really shocked him…now he won't eat or sleep…"

A growl came from behind Pantha and the femme almost jumped out of her skin. She turned to see Dinobot looking at her. "DB." The Maximal commander acknowledged her friend. "What's wrong?"

"The bug's out of the CR Chamber. He wants to talk to you. He won't talk to anyone else." Dinobot growled as he walked over to Pantha. The Transmetal 2 bot looked at Midnight's body and then at Terrorsaur, "Even that sorry excuse to the Predacons shouldn't have had to suffer through such a painful death…"

Pantha nodded. "I agree with you, Dinobot." She sighed. "Dinobot?"

"What is it?"

"What do you think I should do about this?" the feline pointed to the two bodies, "What should do about that monster that did this to them and pinned Waspinator against a tree? I need help. I can't do this alone."

Dinobot let out a sigh and looked at the two dead bodies that were lying on med bay tables in front of them. He shook his head and let out a growl.

* * *

Meanwhile, Cheetor and TriDrac were talking in the rec room when NightScream came into the room. They both looked up and smiled at their friend. "Hey, NightScream." Cheetor smiled. 

"You okay?" TriDrac asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Pantha said I should eat something…" NightScream whispered as he grabbed some Energon. "I don't see why…I'm not hungry…"

"You may not be hungry, but your body needs the Energon." Cheetor said, his voice full of concern. "Besides, when you're grieving, you may not feel hungry, but I assure you, your body is hungry."

"How do you know?" NightScream asked as he sat down on a couch, looking at the two mechs.

"You haven't eaten since you saw Midnight's body." TriDrac explained. "Your body definitely needs Energon. You also need to recharge."

"No I don't."

"Yes, you do." Cheetor said, nodding. "You need to sleep. Your beast mode needs the rest. You, yourself, need the rest. You look horrible."

"Thanks, Cheetor, but I'm fine." The bat insisted. "I don't even need to eat anything…"

The two mechs looked at each other and then walked over to NightScream. TriDrac and Cheetor waited for him to stop eating before they picked him up, with the bat struggling and telling them to put him down, and carried him to his room. They placed NightScream down on his recharge berth and walked out of the room, locking the room as they did.

"We're not letting you out until you _rest_!" The two yelled in the room, standing outside the door, smiling.

NightScream blinked. "That was unexpected..." He sighed and laid down. "Guess I have no choice but...to..rest..." By the time he had finished the sentence, the bat was already deep into a much needed recharge.

* * *

Pantha sighed as she walked down the hall. Dinobot's advice hadn't helped one bit. Or did it? The cat shook her head as she reached her destination. Pantha typed a code into the pad outside the door and smiled as the doors open. She walked inside and waited for the doors to close before she finally spoke. "Waspinator?" 

The wasp looked up from where he was sitting on a recharge berth. His legs were hanging off the edge and he was swinging them back and forth, but when the bug saw that it was Pantha talking to him, he stopped immediately. Waspinator's bluish optics brightened at the sight of the commander and he buzzed. "Catbot came to see Wazzpinator after all…"

"Why wouldn't catbot, er, I?" Pantha asked, cocking her head to the side. "After all, you asked to see me and I came. You feeling okay?"

Waspinator widened his arms and showed Pantha the scars on both of them and then the ones on his legs. "Wazzpinator fine, but scarzz zztill on Wazzpinator'zz armzz and legzz…"

"Well, at least you're alright. Scars'll fade in time, Waspinator." Pantha smiled as she walked over to the bug. The femme sat down next to Waspinator and sighed.

Waspinator blinked. "Where catbot get markings? Megatron do that to catbot?" He asked, seeing the scar and the bite marks.

"Wha-?" Pantha looked at herself and quickly stood up. She turned her back to the wasp. "Uh…I dunno what you're talking about…what markings?"

Waspinator blinked again. "Catbot not very good at hiding stuff from Wazzpinator…markings on catbot's chest…did wolfbot do that to catbot?"

"Yes, but that's not what we were talking about. We're talking about you."

"Wazzpinator knowzz. Wazzpinator just curiouzz." The mech buzzed.

Pantha smiled at the bug and sat back down next to him. She sighed. "You're scared, aren't you? Of that wolf?" Pantha asked. When she didn't get a reply, the femme sighed again, "It's okay to be scared of him. I am…kinda."

"Catbot is?"

"Yeah. He wants to kill every 'bot on this planet. He almost killed you and me…what he did you, though, was worse than what he did to me…" Pantha shivered. "Are you sure you're okay? I mean, he pinned you to a tree."

"Wazzpinator used to thingzz like that happening to Wazzpinator…" Waspinator shrugged. "Wazzpinator getzz zzlagged almozzt everyday…Wazzpinator learned to deal with it."

"You shouldn't have to. You shouldn't have to deal with getting beat up all the time. Waspinator, you've got to learn how to fight."

"How? Catbot teach Wazzpinator?"

Pantha didn't answer. She sighed and folded her arms, sitting back and closing her optics. After a minute of silence, the femme opened her optics and straitened up. She looked at Waspinator and smiled, a look in her green optics like she had just figured something out. "I've got an idea."

* * *

TriDrac sighed as he and Dinobot walked through the forest in beast mode. It was their turn to patrol the forest and TriDrac was nervous. Usually, he went on patrol with someone he could talk to, but Dinobot wasn't a tolerant mech and usually made TriDrac shut up before he could even spit out what it was he wanted to say. The lizard sighed as he hurried to catch up with the dino. "Dinobot?" He asked, looking around. 

"I told you we have to take a complete look around the forest before we can go back to the base. No matter what creepy noise you heard that turns out to be a fluffy bunny." Dinobot growled as he sniffed the air.

"Dinobot-" TriDrac started, but was interrupted by the larger lizard.

"Shh! Do you smell that? Or hear that?"

TriDrac stuck his forked tongue out and pulled it back in. "Yeah. Someone's hurt."

"Smells like Orcus…let's go." Dinobot growled before bounding off deeper into the forest.

"What? Hey!" TriDrac yelled as he ran after the Transmetal raptor. "Wait up, Dinobot!"

Dinobot ignored the smaller lizard as he ran. The raptor skidded to a stop, however, when he saw what was in front of him. There, pinned to a large oak tree like Waspinator was, was a large, black bear. Its eyes were closed and it a pained look on its face. Dinobot sniffed the air and transformed. He walked over to the bear and started to sniff it when the bear's blue eyes opened and it snarled. "Get away from me! Now! Don't you touch me!"

Dinobot looked at the bear as he took a step back. TriDrac ran over to the mech's side and transformed. "Dinobot, who is this?"

"I don't know…" Dinobot growled. He held up his hands in a sign of peace. "We do not wish to hurt you. We only wish to help." When the bear snorted, Dinobot sighed. "Did a white werewolf do this to you?"

The bear looked at Dinobot and his eyes widened. "Dino-Dinobot? No. It's impossible!" He gasped. "Uh, yes. Orcus, I believe his name was. He cut into my chest and squeezed my spark so many times…so hard…" Tears came to his eyes.

Dinobot sniffed the bear. "How do you know my name?"

"Worry about that later, please, Dinobot. Just please get me down! I must make sure he didn't kill them! My name is Tolero." The bear said, looking at the two Maximals with pleading eyes.

Dinobot was silent for a minute, and then he spoke. "TriDrac, help me get him down." He growled.

TriDrac nodded as he walked over to Tolero. "Hold on, we're going to get you down. Like Pantha told Waspinator, this will hurt." He said before pulling a knife out of the bear's leg.

Tolero let out a roar of pain, but didn't lash out. He panted and then looked at the two. "I'm sorry. Continue." He said, trying to move his arms.

Dinobot and TriDrac nodded. The two started to pull the knives out faster so they wouldn't hurt the bear as much. Once they had finished, Tolero fell to the ground and laid there for a minute, panting. He finally got enough strength to push himself up and stand up. The bear stumbled once, but then straitened up. "Tell me, is your base close?"

"Yes. You can get repaired there." TriDrac nodded. "You've lost a lot of Energon."

Tolero grinned weakly. "I know. Being a 'plaything' for that sadistic wolf…you loose a lot of Energon when he decides to start 'really having fun' by squeezing your spark." He groaned.

Dinobot motioned for Tolero and TriDrac to follow him. "Come. The _Axalon_'s just up ahead. You can heal there and then tell everyone your story. Speaking of which, why did that psycho let you go alive?"

"I don't know." Tolero said, shaking his head. "One cycle, he was squeezing my spark, the next, he's on the ground, looking at me with wide optics. He didn't touch my spark again after that…"

"I see…" Dinobot muttered.

TriDrac looked at Tolero and then blinked. "There's something familiar about you…I just wish I could remember…" He said softly.

The bear looked at TriDrac as he walked. "Really? I assure you, I've never seen you before." He said, smiling. "You two are Maximals, correct?" He asked, eyeing Dinbot.

Dinobot nodded. "Yes. No matter what you heard, I am with the Maximals. For now and forever." The dino growled.

Tolero nodded. He smiled as the Maximal base came into view. _Home sweet home again…_The bear thought as the three entered the base, _So good to be…wait…though this place looks like home…it is not the Axalon…not the original anyways…_

Dinobot walked over to a CR Chamber. "Get in, I'll set it for you."

Tolero nodded and walked into the CR Chamber, still in beast mode. The bear looked around and then sat down as the chamber's doors closed. He sat back and waited for the chamber to do its work, sighing. _Even the CR Chambers remind me of the _Axalon_'s. Heh. I guess I really did miss the base a lot if even the chambers remind me of home..._

* * *

Meanwhile, in the darkest depths of his caves, Orcus sat, thinking about what had happened to him earlier that day when he had grabbed that bear's spark. Something had flashed in his head. It was a memory, but of what, the werewolf wasn't sure. Orcus took a deep breath and closed his optics, sitting in a meditation position. He let out a long breath and concentrated on the memory that had flashed through his psyche. After about an hour of meditation, the memory flashed through his mind again, only this time, not as rapid and much more clearly so the werewolf was able to watch it as if it was his own memory. 

**Flashback**

The scene that was playing out in Orcus' head showed Cybertron before the reformatting. The world was large and completely made of metal. The werewolf would have continued to stare at the world, but the memory made him look at something else. It was a young sparkling, its alt form was obviously was a hover 'cycle, that was appeared to be smiling at another mech, a black mech that's alt form was that of a Cybertronian tank. "C'mon, daddy! Show me more! Please! I wanna learn how to do this too!" She grinned.

Orcus watched as the older mech's black hand took the sparkling's and led her over to a lab. He picked her up and put her on a table. Orcus watched the sparkling's father pull out some tools and start to work on a protoform that was lying on the table. Every once in a while, the mech would turn back to the little sparkling that was watching him with wide optics and a smile on her red face. Both Orcus and the mech chuckled as the mech went back to his work. All of a sudden, the doors to the lab flew open and another mech walked in. Orcus wasn't able to tell what his alt form was, but he knew that this new mech was of great importance because both the sparkling and the person turned to face him, their faces strait. "Yes, Optimus?" The first mec asked in a clam, low voice that said he knew something was wrong.

The mech, Optimus, walked over to the sparkling and the sparkling's father and sighed. "We need to talk. X escaped. He killed…" The mech stopped and looked down at the sparkling. He smiled slightly. "Hello there."

"Uncle Op!" The sparkling said with a smile on her face. She reached up for the mech to pick her up.

Optimus chuckled warmly. He then looked at the first mech in the room. "We need to talk about X alone." Here he looked at the sparkling, a worried look in his optics.

"Right." The black mech nodded, "Ro, why don't you go play with your brother?"

The sparkling's optics dulled, but she nodded and ran out of the room. Optimus sighed and watched her run out of the room. He looked back at the mech in front of him. "X escaped and killed everyone except one person on Omnicron. We recaptured him and he's been sentenced to life on a barren planet. I was ordered to hire a crew to take him there. I'm offering you a spot on that crew, would you care to join?"

The mech nodded, though Orcus knew he wanted to say no. "I will." He said, though in his heart he didn't want to.

Optimus sighed. "I know this'll mean leaving them behind, old friend, but we must get X to some place where he can't hurt anyone."

The black mech nodded again. "When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow. I've already prepared the rest of the crew." Optimus said, sighing. "I know that you-"

Orcus saw the black mech turn away from Optimus, cutting him off, and walk out of the room. The mech looked down and saw the sparkling looking up at him. He picked her up. "I've got to go tomorrow, Ro. Promise me you'll look out for him and you'll be a good girl."

"I promise, daddy." Ro smiled as she hugged the mech.

"Good. Rota?"

"Yes, daddy?"

"If I don't come back, I have something to tell you."

"What is it?"

"I'm not-"

**End Flashback**

Orcus let out a roar of pain as he fell backwards, now out of the memory. He laid on the ground, panting, until he found enough energy in him to sit up. The mech leaned against a cave wall as he gasped for breath. "That was..." The werewolf paused, trying to find the right word. He smiled when he found it. "Interesting...to say the least...so...that mech was one of the ones that worked on X..."

_But that's not what you find interesting, is it?_ A voice in Orcus' head asked.

"Shut up. I thought you left for good." Orcus growled, knowing the voice was right.

_Eh, I decided to stay for just a little longer. I wanted to see how long it'll take these Maximals to kill you..._ The voice smiled.

"Praesul, get out of my head. Now. I don't want you in my head. So leave." Orcus growled.

_Fine. I'll go haunt one of the Maximals. Maybe I'll even tell them how to defeat you..._ The voice, Curator, laughed before leaving the werewolf's mind.

"They can't defeat me...the only one that could is long dead. The only one that can defeat me...is you, Curator...and I'm afraid that you'll have to die in order for me to die..." Orcus took a deep breath as the voice talked again.

_Maybe, _brother,_ but I would rather die _again_ and see you finally die then to stay in this Primus forsaken form, only allowed to talk to the gifted, and watch you kill all these poor Transformers. _Curator growled, _So don't you threaten me with my life! I'd gladly give it if it'll stop you! After all, who was it that killed me and then trapped me in this form?_

"Me." Orcus grinned. "But don't feel bad, brother, I didn't enjoy killing you."

_Much. _

"That's true. I did enjoy, but not enough to make me do it again." Orcus shrugged.

_You're only saying that because when you killed me, I was transported to your mind. You couldn't stand another million years with me in here. _Curator sighed. _But I will help the Maximals stop you. I won't let you kill this world's Maximals and Predacons like you did the last ten._

"Ah...their screams..." Orcus grinned. He heard Curator growl and then he felt the spirit leave his mind. "Damn brother. He thinks he can stop me? Ha! I'll make sure to find and kill all of this world's gifted before he can bond to their mind and spark like he did mine..."

* * *

Tolero sighed as he stepped out of the CR Chamber after about thirty cycles. The bear stretched and let out a sigh. He looked around the room. Dinobot was looking at him, Cheetor was scanning for something and Rattrap was repairing a monitor. Tolero saw Dinobot walk over to him and the bear blinked. "Dinobot? What's wrong?" 

"How do you know me?"

"Uh…everyone knows about you…" Tolero swallowed, hoping the dino would buy it.

Dinobot may not have bought it, but he accepted it. He started to walk away, motioning for Tolero to follow him. The bear nodded and walked after the dino. Dinobot glanced at Tolero, "Why don't you transform?" He asked after a minute.

Tolero looked at Dinobot and sighed. "Maximize." He said softly. The bear's head opened up and the front of the mouth went on his front of the back of the head went on his back. His robot head popped up and clicked forwards, his optics were blue just like his beast mode's eyes and he had a small mask over his mouth. His arms and legs lost the fur and revealed that his real legs were muscular instead of the fat bear arms and legs they had been just moments before. Tolero's hands were medium sized, the perfect size for a mechanic or a medic, and his fingers looked nimble, yet strong. Once he had finished transforming, the mech looked at the shocked Dinobot. "This is why I didn't want to transform."

"Er…" Dinobot muttered, shocked. "Follow me. She wants to see you."

"She?"

Dinobot didn't answer. He just continued walking and Tolero followed. The two stopped in front of the training room and Dinobot touched a button outside the door. "Is it safe to come in?" He growled.

A laugh came from the speaker that was just above the button. "Yeah." The female voice panted, "Just finished showing Waspy a few moves. Poor guy."

"Ooh…Wazzpinator sees stars. Wazzpinator thinks stars are pretty…" The bug's voice said.

"Heh. Probably shouldn't have trained him as hard as I did…come on in, DB. Is the mech with you?"

"Yes." Dinobot growled in response.

"Bring him in too."

Dinobot nodded. The doors opened and Dinobot walked in, Tolero close behind. The two saw Pantha standing with her back towards them, looking at an unconscious Waspinator, who was lying on the ground, anime swirls in his optics. Tolero looked at the femme as she let out a laugh and helped the wasp up. "Easy there, Waspy."

"Wazzpinator think zztarzz look pretty…Catbot wanna go outside and zee zztarzz with Wazzpinator?"

Pantha laughed. Her ear twitched and she turned. "Huh?" She turned and looked at the two mechs. The femme's optics widened. "No. Slaggin'. Way."

Waspinator looked up. He looked at the two mechs and then blinked. "Wazzpinator dreaming." He said before falling back down again.

Pantha looked at the unconscious mech and then at Tolero. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't do the same thing that my bug friend just did." The feline said, pointing to Waspinator.

Tolero blinked and Dinobot growled. "Because you're the leader." He reminded her.

"Ah. Yes. Thank you, Dinobot." Pantha smiled. She then looked at Tolero, "Okay, guys, what I'm about to do will never leave this room. Understand?"

Dinobot looked at Pantha with a look that said "Don't you dare faint" but nodded. Tolero blinked. Waspinator stayed unconscious. Pantha took a deep breath and then glomped Tolero, "You're alive!"

Tolero, who was on the ground and unable to breathe, blinked. He looked at Dinobot and then a Pantha. The mech groaned. "Pantha…I can't breathe…" The bear muttered, trying to get the panther off of him.

Dinobot sighed and looked at the two. "No one outside this room will know about this." He growled. "Such behavior-"

"Shut up, Dinobot!" Pantha grinned as Tolero stood up with her still attached to him. Tolero looked at the femme and pushed her off him gently; Pantha grunted as she fell on her butt. "Ow."

Dinobot shook his head and looked at Waspinator. "How long have you been in here?"

"Half a mega-cycle." The femme shrugged. "But I forgot I wasn't training on of my Maximals and kinda…heh…"

Dinobot shook his head. "You knocked him out in five moves?"

"Yeah…heh…looks that way…"

Tolero looked at Pantha and then at Waspinator. "What is he doing here?" He asked, looking at the two.

Pantha smiled. "Heh. Funny story…" She muttered. "Come on, I'll fill ya in." She grinned. The femme picked Waspinator up. "After I take the bug to his room. C'mon…Tolero…"

Tolero nodded and followed the feline out of the training room. He waited outside a room while Pantha put the wasp on his recharge berth and then watched the femme walk out. "Aren't you going to lock that?"

"Wha-? Naw. He won't break out. He's too scared to try to cross the forest on his own. Plus, I'm helping him out. He's gotta learn how to fight." Pantha shrugged, "Now, come on, I'm sure you've got some questions that need answers, right?"

Tolero nodded. "First off, what happened?"

Pantha sighed. "Why you're alive, I dunno. But if you're talking about why we're on Earth, that's an easy one." She shrugged.

"Then explain."

"Fine." The feline took a deep breath and started to explain everything to the bear.

* * *

RG: There. You happy? I spell checked.

Pantha:...

RG: Shut up.

Pantha: I didn't say anything!

RG: But you were thinking it!

Pantha: (deadpan)

TriDrac: (Laughs)

Pantha: Shut up.

TriDrac: Yes, ma'am!

RG: (Growls and pushes the two back into the story) Shut up. Anywho, R&R please or Rampage and Orcus will come for you. And let me just warn you that Rampage is a kitten compared to Orcus. (smiles) So you'd better review.

Orcus: Or else.

RG: What he said. Also, I'm taking suggestions on who to kill off next. Maximal or Predacon. Dodn't really matter. (Yes I said dodn't. So what?)

Rampage: Hey! We're supposed to be the psychos!

Orcus: (nods)

RG: (Growls) Fine. They're the psychos. I'm the weirdo authoress.


	5. Yet another unnamed chappie, oy!

**Disclaimer: Don't own the Transformers, never will. Don't own Connect Four, either. I own Pantha, Orcus, Tolero, TriDrac and I think that's all of them. Don't sue this overly obsessed fan girl or she will hunt you down and stab you with a spoon.**

RG: Another day, another chappie. Waspy!

Waspinator: What overly obsessed fan girl want now?

RG: Get ready for training! Pantha, TriDrac, Tolero! Get in there! Also, there will be no deaths in this chap since I didn't get any requests for any in my reviews...slaggin'...anyways, onto the new chapter!

* * *

Waspinator groaned a low groan as he came back online. His head hurt along with his wings, back and about every other body part. The mech managed to sit and he looked around, expecting to be in the training room, alone. Instead, he was sitting up on the berth in the room Pantha had said was his. For the past couple of days, he had been training with Pantha to be a better fighter and so far all he had done was fall and kicked his aft kicked even though the femme was going easy on him. Oh well. Things weren't all bad. At least at the Maximal base if he was hurt or knocked offline during a training session, Pantha would tend to him or carry him to a CR Chamber instead of ignoring him and leaving him there like the Predacons would have and did in the past. 

The wasp let out a sigh. "Wazzpinator kinda hungry…wonder where Maxximalzz are…" He muttered as he leaned his back against the cold metal wall.

Just as Waspinator was about to get up to go find someone, a knock came from outside his room. The noise made the worried mech jump slightly, but he calmed down when he remembered that he was in the Maximal base and it wasn't Inferno or QuickStrike that was standing outside his door, ready to pick on him. "Waspinator?" A soft voice called in through the metal door. "I brought you something to eat." The voice paused. "Are you even awake yet?"

Waspinator opened his mouth to answer, but stopped. He thought about it for a minute. Did he really want to talk to anyone right then? "Wazzpinator up." He said after a moment. Heh. Guess he did want to talk to someone. "Izz that catbot?"

"Yes, Waspinator, it is. May I come in or do you just want me to put this down outside the door?" The feline's voice asked.

"It'zz catbot'zz zzhip."

"But it's your room."

Waspinator blinked. He was a little stunned. "Yezz…" He finally said, "Catbot can come in."

"Thanks."

The door opened and Pantha walked in. She placed something on Waspinator's desk and smiled at him. "Brought you something to eat. Figured you would need it after you passed out on us." She grinned and then laughed.

Waspinator looked at Pantha and smiled slightly. The "catbot" was one of the few Maximals that treated him with respect. The rest of them either glared, scoffed, sneered or turned their backs to the bug when they saw him. She was also the only one that he had talked to about his and Terrorsaur's ordeal with Orcus since Terrorsaur wasn't talking and also because Pantha had been through the same thing. Shoot. She was the only 'bot he talked to. Period.

"You okay?" Pantha asked as she saw the look on Waspinator's face. The femme walked over to the bot and sat down next to him. "What's wrong?"

"Wazzpinator okay…" Waspinator sighed, "Wazzpinator just…"

"Hungry? Tired? Feels like dancing?" Pantha asked, smiling. She was just trying to cheer the bug up and lift his spirit, but it didn't appear to be working.

"Worried." He finished. "Wolfbot keep killing, there won't be any Trazzformerzz left on Earth. We'll all be zzzlag…."

Pantha sighed and put an arm around Waspinator's shoulders. "Everything'll be okay, Waspinator." The feline promised as she smiled, trying to calm the nervous bot. "I promise, the Maximals and I are going to stop Orcus."

Waspinator flinched at the werewolf's name, but nodded. "Catbot sweat catbot and Maxximalzz'll stop wolfbot?"

Pantha smiled a soft, warm smile and hugged the bug gently. "I swear. Now. You'd better eat something or you'll pass out during our next training session." She smiled as stood up. "You're getting better, too. Just a tip, though, you should really figure out how to use your speed to your advantage. Trust me, you figure out how, and you'll be kicking my aft in no time. See ya." With that, the feline walked out of Waspinator's room leaving the bug alone to think.

The wasp blinked. "Uzz Wazzpinator'zz zzpeed to Wazzpinator'zz advatage, huh? Catbot give Wazzpinator idea..." He smiled.

* * *

Rattrap growled as he spat out some oil that had fallen on his face. He crawled out from under the machine he was working on and tried to wipe his optics. "Slaggin'…" 

"Aw, what's wrong, Rattrap?" BlackArachnia's voice called. She was standing in front of the rat, but because of the oil and Energon that had fallen in his optics, Rattrap couldn't see her, but he heard her.

"What does it look like, webs?" Rattrap growled as he finally got the oil out of his optics. "Slaggin' machine blew on me…it'll take me forever to get it back up an' runnin'!"

"So what does it do, anyways?"

"Tracks Pred signals."

BlackArachnia gaped. "You let that machine crash? We'll need it to track that thing!" She yelled, looking at the rat, "I mean, what if that psycho sneaks up on us while that machine's down? He could-"

"BlackArachnia, calm down." A calm voice said from behind the two Maximals. "I believe I can fix it quickly."

"Yeah?" Rattrap asked, "An' jus' exactly who are ya?"

Tolero stepped into the room and looked at Rattrap, the mask that was on his face when he first transformed was missing. "Care to help me fix it, old friend?" He asked, smiling a little. "After all, you need it to work and I want to a chance to work with my old friend again."

Rattrap looked at Tolero and blinked. There was something familiar about this mech, but he couldn't place it. The rat blinked again. He figured it out and his optics widened. "No way. Rhinox?"

"It's Tolero now, Rattrap, but yes, it's me."

"But you…Tankorr…" Rattrap's optics narrowed.

"I know what you're thinking, Rattrap, believe me, I know, but I'm not going to attack any of you." Tolero said, his face serious. "Why should I? Why _would _I?"

Rattrap smiled a little and his optics went back to normal. "Well then, buddy, let's get to work!"

"That's it!" BlackArachnia asked, looking at Rattrap and Tolero. She smiled. "You're not gonna welcome ol' Rhinox back?" She asked before looking at the bear. "Welcome back."

Tolero smiled at the she-spider and then reached into sub space. He pulled out the mask he had on ealier and snapped it into place on his face. "There. Now, Rattrap, let's get to work." The mech smiled as he pulled out a drill that looked like a bear's claw.

Rattrap smiled and pulled out his wrench. The two mechs worked side by side on the machine while another mech walked into the room. Rattrap and Tolero looked and then went back to work when they saw it was just SilverBolt. BlackArachnia looked over at her love and smiled. "Hey, Bowser Boy." She grinned, using the nickname she had given him back during the orignal beast wars.

SilverBolt smiled at BlackArachnia and then looked at the two mechs on the floor. "Hello, Rhinox." He said, smiling. "Good to have you back."

Tolero merely grunted in reply as he and Rattrap worked on the machine; the mech grabbed a screwdriver and removed a small square thing from the machine. SilverBolt let out a laugh as he wrapped his arm around BlackArachnia's waist. He smiled as BlackArachnia moved a little closer to him. "My dear-"

"Cut the lovey dovey stuff, please." NightScream's voice asked as the bat flew into the control room. He maximized and then landed in front of a monitor.

"Hello, NightScream." SilverBolt smiled as he moved away from BlackArachnia. The mech walked over to NightScream and sighed. "Where have you been? We haven't seen you in almost a whole day."

"Cheetor and TriDrac made me rest...I guess I was much more tired than I thought..." NightScream muttered as he typed. He pulled up a report of an attack on Cybertron and tapped the screen with his claw, making a light 'tap' sound. "There. I finally found it." He said, smiling.

"What is it, my friend?" SilverBolt asked, looking over the bat's shoulder and BlackArachnia walked over to the two mechs. "Is it something of importance?"

"Yes." NightScream nodded. "Check this out." He pulled up another screen that showed a page of Cybertron's "newspaper". On the front page was a headline labeled "_Terror of the Night Strikes Again! 3 More Mechs Killed!_"

SilverBolt folded his arms and looked at the headlines and blinked. BlackArachnia's optics widened. "Are you saying that the same..._thing_ that killed all those Transformers thousands of years ago could be that psycho that's outside waiting to kill us?" The she-spider asked, looking at NightScream.

"Yes." NightScream nodded. "TriDrac told me about a legend were, before Cybertron was reformatted, a Transformer took the shape of a wolf-like creature and killed. However, the legend goes on to say that it was caught and killed. But TriDrac doesn't believe that and neither do I. We also don't believe that this is just a legend." He said, lowering the window that held the headline. "I think that that,psycho out there is the same one from back then..."

"But that was...before my grandparents were even created." BlackArachnia mused.

SilverBolt nodded. He looked at the monitor one last time, even though the headlines had vanished, and then turned. "If Orcus is really the 'bot from all those years ago..."

"We're in deeper slag than we thought we were." BlackArachnia finished, sighing.

NightScream mearly nodded as he stood up and walked away from the monitor. BlackArachnia and SilverBolt looked at each other and then at the retreating bat.

* * *

Tarantulas winced as Megatron banged his fist on the arm rest of his floating throne. "Where is Inferno! I called him here five cycles ago!" 

"I don't know, Megatron." Tarantulas said, waving his hands side to side. "I haven't seen him since Terrorsaur and Waspinator disappeared."

"Ah yesss, the fliers..." Megatron growled. "Has the search brought up anything positive?" He asked, looking down at the spider.

"Uh, not exactly, boss." QuickStrike said as he stepped fowards. "All we found at their last known position was a bunch of mech fluid and a few knives that were on the grounf beneath a tree." He said, looking at the Transmetal T-Rex.

Megatron shifted his gaze to the fuzor. "Really? How...interesting..." He smiled. "What about the third signal?"

"That's a no-go, boss."

"Yes, we weren't able to track it, I'm afraid." Tarantulas said. He looked at QuickStrike and then at the ground. "It disappeared soon after Waspinator's and Terrorsaur's did..."

"Hmm..." Megatron muttered, sitting back. He glanced around the room. "Scorponock."

Said mech looked at Megatron. "Uh, yes sir?" He asked, standing at attention.

"Scan for signals that do not belong to a faction." The rex instructed. "We must find whoever did this and get him on our side..." He smiled.

"Yes sir." Scorponock nodded before hurrying to do what the Predacon leader had instructed him to do.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the training room, Waspinator and Pantha glared at each other while Dinobot sat in the corner of the room and watched the two train. He snorted when Waspinator took to the air and started to fly around the room. 

"Heh. Took my advice, huh?" Pantha asked as she watched the mech buzz around in circles. "You won't regret it, Waspy. What you lack in strength, you make up for in speed." She smiled.

Waspinator smiled a little and flew around ini circles. Eventually, he flew strait at the feline in front of him and took a swing at her. He smiled again, but this time wider, when Pantha stumbled back, stunned by the blow she should have seen coming. Waspinator saw her lack in concentration and kicked at her back. Pantha grunted and fell fowards. She smiled at Waspinator's use of his speed and then started to get up when a shot hit her back. The feline fell down. "Waspinator, we're not using weapons yet!" She called to the bug.

Dinobot growled and started to stand up as Waspinator landed in front of the injured Pantha. The dino snarled as he watched Waspinator look at the feline and blink; Dinobot was ready to tear the Predacon to pieces if he made a move to attack the cat again. However, he was suprised when the bug put his weapon away and offered a hand to help Pantha up. "Wazzpinator sorry." The bug said, looking at Pantha. "Wazzpinator didn't know."

Pantha took the wasp's hand and pulled herself up, almost pulling the smaller bot over. She smiled. "It's okay, Waspinator." She said softly. "I told you you were getting better. Smarter, too. Look how you used your speed as a strength."

Waspinator smiled slightly. "Thankzzz."

"No problem. Now," Pantha pulled her sword out. She threw it away. "get rid of your weapons. We're going to try that again. This time, though, I want you to come at me with all you've got. I won't go easy on you and you can't go easy on me. Understand, Waspy?"

Waspinator nodded and pulled out his weapons. The mech threw them towards where Pantha's sword was and then turned back to the femme. He clenched his fist and flew into the air. However, Pantha anticipated that move and lept up at the wasp. She tackled him to the ground and started to bite and claw at him. Waspinator let out a pained yell and then kneed the panther with both knees. His optics widened as Pantha let out a groan and fell off him, clutching her stomach. "Catbot?" He asked.

Pantha groaned and stood up. She smiled. "Nice one." The femme grinned before leeping at Waspinator again. This move caught the bug by suprise.

Waspinator yelped and managed to fly up into the air, barely dodging the femme's attack. He looked down at the cat and smiled before diving at her. The wasp pulled up at the last second before he hit the ground and grabbed Pantha around the waist. He carried her into the air and then dropped her, only to catch her by the wrist. Waspinator laughed as the feline hissed and attempted to slash him with her sharp claws. "Catbot not get Wazzpinator!" He smiled. "Wazzpinator too high up for catbot!"

"Not this catbot!" Pantha hissed before twisting the hand that Waspinator had and digging her claws into his wrist. She smiled as Waspinator let out a yell of pain and then dropped the cat. Pantha landed on her feet gracefully and then looked up at Waspinator. "Do you want to stop? Or keep going?" She called up.

"Wazzpinator _will _beat catbot!" Waspinator said stubbornly before diving at Pantha again. He growled and grabbed Pantha's right ear.

The cat let out a painfilled shriek. "WASPINATOR, STOP! PLEASE!" She begged, trying to protect her poor, delitcate ears.

"Not until catbot givezz."

"I give, I give! Just let go of my ear!"

Waspinator released Pantha's ear and then femme choked back tears. She held her head, covering her ears gently, and looked at Waspinator with hurt optics. The bug quickly realized what he had done had gone too far. He buzzed a little and landed a few yards away from Pantha. "Cat-"

Dinobot growled and moved in front of Waspinator, blocking Pantha from his view. The Transmetal 2 raptor 'bot glared at the bug and snorted. "Get away, bug. Go back to the Predacon base. Now! We don't want you here! Not if you're going to-"

"No!" Pantha growled, pushing Dinobot out of the way. "Forget him, Waspinator. That was a smart move, going for my ears like that." She smiled at the wasp even though her ear hurt like hell. "Congrats. You beat me."

"But Wazzpinator didn't beat catbot fairly..." Waspinator sighed, looking at the ground. "Wazzpinator also ignored Catbot's pleazz and continued to pull on catbot'zz earzz..."

"Ah, it's all in the past and forgotten." Pantha said, waving it off as if it was nothing. "C'mon, let's go grab some Energon." The femme smiled. She wrapped her arm around the back of Waspinator's neck and pulled him out of the training room gently.

Dinobot growled as he watched the two walk out of the room, well, Pantha was walking, Waspy was being halfway dragged. The dino looked at the weapons the two had left in the room and picked them up. He carried them out of the room.

* * *

Cheetor yawned as he and TriDrac played a game that look a lot like "Connect Four", only it was a hologram version of the game. The cat touched the screen and a black piece appeared there. TriDrac smiled and touched the spot above Cheetor's newest peice. "Connect four. Ha. I finally beat you!" 

"One out of forty." Cheetor smiled. "Congrats."

TriDrac looked at Cheetor and then pumped his arms in the air. "I won! Yes!"

"You're crazy." A voice laughed.

"Huh? Hey, P!" TriDrac smiled as the cat and Waspinator walked into the room. "Huh? What's he doing here?" He asked, glaring at Waspinator.

Waspinator started to leave the rec room, but Pantha grabbed his arms and pulled him back in. "He's here to grab some Energon. After all, he finally beat me today. Huzzah!" The cat giggled.

Waspinator smiled a little and then chuckled nervously when TriDrac glared at him. Cheetor looked at the wasp as he restarted the "Connect Four" game. "Your move." He said, not looking at TriDrac.

Pantha grabbed two cups of Energon and handed one to Waspinator. The femme took a sip and then looked at her friend. "So, you guys playing 'Connect Four', huh? TriDrac's only won, what, one out of forty?"

"Connect four." Cheetor smiled. "One out of forty-_one_." The cat pointed out. "Heh. This cat's on a winning streak!"

"Good luck, Tri. You'll need it. When it comes to 'Connect Four', Cheetor's the champ." Pantha smiled as she took another sip of the energon.

"Believe me, I've noticed." TriDrac muttered as he made a move. "He's beaten my aft so many times..."

Pantha laughed at TriDrac's fustration and shook her head. "You're a nutcase, Tri. Cheetor, go easy on him, huh? After all, Tri's only won _one slaggin' game_!" She giggled.

"Oh, ha, ha." TriDrac muttered as Cheetor connected three pieces. "Slag...there." He poked the screen.

"Connect four." Cheetor and Pantha said at the same time as Cheetor connected four pieces together. TriDrac groaned and the two cats smiled and shot each other thumbs up.

"Hey, Waspy-" Pantha turned to look at Waspinator and saw him cowering in a dark corner of the room. "Waspy? What's wrong?"

The wasp buzzed nervously as Pantha walked over to him. He tried to back away, but ran into the corner. Waspinator looked at Pantha with large, frightened optics. "Plzzz...leave poor Wazzpinator alone...get out of Wazzpinator's head..." He said, fear in his voice, as he clutched his head.

"Waspy, it's me. It's Pantha." The feline said softly, "No one's trying to hurt you. What's wrong? Please tell me." She begged as she bent down to Waspinator's level. "Waspy?"

All of a sudden, Waspinator reached back and punched Pantha in the nose. While the cat was stunned, the bug jumped to his feet and ran as fast as he could away from the rec room. "Plzzz...leave Wazzpinator alone..." He panted as he ran. "Plzzz..."

Pantha fell back and blinked. She didn't realize what had happened until Cheetor was at her side. "Big Cat, you okay?" Cheetor asked as he helped Pantha to her feet. "What the slag was that all about?"

Pantha blinked. She shook her head and blinked a few more times. "Ow. Yeah, I'm okay. Which way'd Waspy go? Something's wrong with him. He's frightened..."

"That way, Big Cat. TriDrac went after him when he ran." Cheetor explained as he pointed down the left hall.

"Oh slag! TriDrac'll kill Waspy! He already doesn't like him!" She yelled before running past Cheetor and towards the two mechs. "TriDrac! Don't you hurt him! He doesn't know what he's doing!" Pantha screamed towards her friend.

However, TriDrac had already grabbed Waspinator and had pinned him to the ground. The Komodo flicked his forked tongue out at the bug and let out a warning hiss. "Just try to run, _Waspy_, and I'll personally rip your wings off one by one."

"Plzzz leave Wazzpinator alone..." Waspinator whimpered as he weakly struggled to get away from the angry mech ontop of him. "Wazzpinator not want to fight...he just wantzz to get away...plzzz let Wazzpinator go..."

"No chance, bug brain!" TriDrac spat as he glared at the frightened mech. "I knew that Pantha should have left you hanging on that tree! We'd be better off if you just LEFT!" He yelled the last word and Waspinator cringed.

"TriDrac, get away from him!" Pantha yelled as she ran over to the two mechs. The feline threw her friend off of the wasp and bent down next to him. She looked at the tiny holes in Waspinator's arms where TriDrac's claws and dug into his skin and glared at TriDrac. "I didn't say you could hurt him!" She spat. Pantha looked at the frightened Waspinator and her optics softened. "It's okay, Waspy. It's okay."

Waspinator tried to back away, but froze when Pantha put her arms around him and held him there. "Plzzz...leave Wazzpinator alone..." He whimpered. "Get out of Wazzpinator'zzz head..."

"No one's going to hurt you." Pantha said softly. "Don't worry. No one's here to hurt you. Calm down..."

TriDrac stood up from where he had been thrown and glared at the wasp. He snorted. "I don't see why we bother helping him. He slaggin' attacked you!"

"He's frightened!" Pantha spat back. "Something's wrong with him. I'm a cat and a femme. I know these things..." She trailed off as Waspinator relaxed a little. "Waspy, you okay?"

"Plzz...get...out...of...Wazzpinator'zz...head...Leave poor...Wazzpinator..." Waspinator said slowly before his optics cut off and he went offline. "Alone..."

Pantha stood up and picked the mech up. She looked at TriDrac. "I don't want anyone to go into Waspinator's room until after he wakes up and I see him, understand? Something's wrong and I want to know what before it gets another one of my Maximals." She turned, cutting TriDrac off before he could even say anything. The femme picked Waspinator up and carried him back to his room. "Everything'll be okay, Waspinator."

* * *

Meanwhile, in Orcus' cave, the werewolf was about to take a nap when Curator's voice came into his mind. He growled, "What is it now, brother? Couldn't find yourself a body?" 

_Oh, I found not one, but two, brother. Both Maximals. However, the first one I tried to talk to freaked out for lack of a better term. He attacked his friends, thinking that they were the ones in his head. I should have left when I realized just how scared of me he really was..._

"But you didn't." Orcus smiled. "You continued to pry into his mind and scared him even more. How long did this one last?"

_Twenty cycles. I'm afraid, though, it was more frightening that exhausting to the poor mech. _Curator said sadly.

"So this means you'll have to try the second one."

Or _try to talk to this one again. I don't know which to do...wait. Why am I telling you this?_

"Because I'm the only one you can complain to. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a nap to get to before I start on my newest toy." Orcus yawned before curling up in a ball and falling into recharge.

_You're sick._ Curator growled as he saw what the werewolf was talking about. The mech had yet another Transformer tied to his "torture table". This one, however, was a Predacon. And not a very scared one, either. Curator smiled as he got an idea. The spirit quickly took over Orcus' body, which he could only do sparingly, and used it to walk over to the table. Orcus' mouth smiled as he untied the red mech from the table.

* * *

Rattrap and Tolero had just finished fixing the machine when the alarms started to go off. The two mechs shot to their feet and then looked at the monitor. Rattrap read the read outs and then touched his comm. **All Maximals to the control room, we got Preds an' a pod to boot! **He said into the communicator. 

A minute later, all of the Maximals were in the control room. Pantha made her way to the front of the pack and then looked at the machine. "Hmm...Megatron, Tarantulas...QuickStrike..." She muttered, folding her hands. "Tolero, Rattrap, we'll need you two to start the pod and also Tolero's strength will be good for defending Rattrap incase some Pred decides to attack him while he's working on the pod. Cheetor. Your speed'll work wonders here." Pantha turned to her friends. "Let's go."

The four Maximals quickly transformed into beast mode and hurried out of the Axalon.

* * *

RG: Whew. Yet another chap. When I get an idea-

TriDrac and Pantha: You get an idea.

RG: Bingo. Anywho, 'nother chap. Yes, Rhinox is Tolero for those of you that STILL HAVEN'T FIGURED IT OUT!

Pantha:...Done yet?

RG: (Breathes heavily, then calms down) Yeah.

TriDrac: Good. Now, where were we?

RG: Um...I believe the reason I called Curator two names in the last chap?

Pantha: Yeah, the first name she called him means "protector" in the wolf's native language.

RG: Right. (Nods) Now, are we all good?

TriDrac: ...We still don't have anyone to kill off in the next chap. Someone please request someone!

RG: And before you ask, I'm not killing of Waspy. Not yet, anyways...(smiles eviliy)

Pantha: Oh great. She's going psycho.

RG: HEY! I am not!


	6. Revenge

**Disclaimer: Don't own Transformers. Won't ever. Unless fate decides he's tortured me enough and gives me the TFs, not a chance. All I own are Pantha, Orcus, TriDrac, Tolero and...Oumu. Don't you dare use them without asking! **

RG: Yet another chap...my fingers hurt...

Pantha: Then quit updating every day!

RG: I can't help it! When I get an idea, I have to type it!

Pantha:...Get to the chap.

RG: Rightio!

* * *

As the battle raged on between the Maximals and Predacons for ownership of the newest pod, a pain filled scream filled the air and both the Maximals and the Predacons stopped what they were doing and looked around. Pantha lowered her sword as she looked away from Megatron. "Oh no..." 

"What was that, Megatron?" Tarantulas asked as he looked around, a nervous glimmer in his optics. His grip on his weapon tightened.

The Predacon leader's optics darted around as he tried to locate the origin of the scream. "Nothing good, nooo..." The T-Rex growled as he lowered his arm/laser.

"Orcus..." Pantha growled. "Maximals!" The Maximals turned to their leader and Pantha looked at her friends. "Orcus has yet another one of our friends, we've got to save them! Maximals, retreat!" She yelled, putting her sword away. "Now!"

As the Maximals put their weapons away and started to transform, Megatron held his hand up. "Wait." The Predacon leader said calmly. "I have a simple question."

"Allow me to look at the pod and I'll answer it." Pantha growled. She didn't trust Megs as far as she could throw him, but she needed to see that pod. To make sure that Orcus hadn't gotten there before they did. "I need to make sure that the Transformer that Orcus is...playing with..." The femme shuddered, "Isn't the one from that pod."

"Very well." Megatron said, "Predacons, stand aside." He ordered and then watched the other Predacons move away from the pod as Pantha walked over to it. The femme kneeled down and opened it. Her head fell and she shook her head. "Well? Is it there? And who is Orcus?"

"No...it's not there..." Pantha whispered. "That slaggin' bastard took another one of our friends!" She yelled, hitting the pod with her fists. "Slaggit! Slaggit! Slaggit!"

"How very disappointing." The Rex shrugged, his voice unfeeling. "Now, answer my question. _Who_ is Orcus?"

Pantha stood up and turned around. She glared at Megatron, her optics filled with the same hate they had when the werewolf had captured her. "A psycho that's even more of a psycho than you and Rampage put together and then multiplied by three. He's already murdered one Maximal, one Predacon, he's already tried (and almost succeeded) to kill Waspinator, Tolero and myself." The feline shivered at the memory.

Megatron let out a thoughtful "hmm..." as the last of the Maximals left. Just as Pantha was about to leave as well, the Predacon spoke up, "You said that this...Orcus has killed both a Maximal and a Predacon?" He asked, looking at the young Maximal leader.

"Yes." Pantha nodded. "He ripped Terrorsaur to pieces while he was still alive and then let him die while he pinned Waspinator to a tree, thinking he was dead." The femme said softly. "He's a psycho who enjoys others' pain." She shivered.

Megatron nodded and then looked at the femme. "How do you know, hmm? Where are my Predacons?" He asked and every single Predacon that was present turned their weapons onto Pantha.

"Uh..." The cat took a step back. She hadn't been expecting that one. "Well..."

"Well what?"

"Terrorsaur's body is at the _Axalon._ Like I said, his body was torn to pieces and I fixed it." Pantha explained, ignoring the weapons. "No one deserves to be killed like that. Not even a Predacon."

"What about Waspinator?" Megatron growled. He didn't really care about the bug, but this Maximal knew where his Predacons were and it was burning the Rex up that this femme knew where a member of his team was and he didn't.

"Safe, Megatron. He's no longer pinned up to that tree."

"But _where _is he?"

"Somewhere where he'll be safe, now, if you'll excuse me..." Pantha turned to go.

Megatron glared at QuickStrike. The fuzor let out a roar and tackled the femme to the ground. He pinned her under him and looked at Megatron. "I got 'er, boss. Now what?" He asked in his heavy Southern accent.

Megatron walked over to the fuzor and kicked him off Pantha. The rex put his foot on her back and started to press. "Where's. Waspinator." He growled, putting pressure on her back. "Tell me where the bug is or you'll end up nothing more than a cat pancake."

"Bite my aft, Megatron." Pantha growled up at Megatron. Her tail wrapped around his ankle and she started to squeeze, but stopped when another scream was heard. Only this time, she recognized the scream. "Dinobot! No!" The femme yelled, trying to get out from under Megatron's foot. "Get your foot off me! I gotta help them!"

Megatron mearly shook his head and stepped on Pantha's back harder. He looked at the Predacons. "Predacons, follow the Maximals. Recrute this new mech...Orcus...he shall be an invaluable ally to our cause. Destroy anyone that tries to stop you." He ordered and the Predacons quickly transformed and flew or walked after the Maximals. Megatron then turned his attention back to the struggling femme that was held under his foot. "What to do with you?"

"Let me have her..." A voice hissed and Pantha's optics widened. She started to struggle even more when Orcus jumped from the shadows to in front of Megatron. "I didn't finish my job last time and I really want to squeeze her spark again...maybe this time I can find some memories in her spark like I did the bear's." He grinned.

"Who are you?" Megatron growled, looking at the werewolf.

"Orcus."

"Ah...so you're Orcus. The one that killed one of my Predacons..."

"And a Maximal." Orcus pointed out as he walked over to Megatron, unafraid. He looked down at Pantha and winked, making the femme struggle yet even more. "Hello, there. Remember me?"

"How could I forget!" Pantha spat. "I can still feel your claws on my spark!"

Megatron glanced at Orcus, unsure of what to say. He looked at Pantha and then smiled. "I suggest you join us, my friend. The Predacons could use you..."

"I belong to no faction." Orcus growled.

"Hear me out, please." Megatron said, holding his heads up as a sign of peace. "You don't have to do much, just promise you won't rip my Predacons to shreads and you may do whatever you want. We shall not question you or hunt you, however, if you refused, we will be forced to hunt you down and kill you."

Orcus smiled. "I've died a few times before, actually, unable to fully die." He shrugged. "I always come back...and start my job over again." He looked at Megatron. "I accept. Although I will not join you, I will not attack your team and you shall not hunt me nor attack me."

"Deal." Megatron smiled.

Orcus smiled. He looked at Pantha and a smile crept up on his face. Megatron saw the smile and looked at him. "I take it you almost killed her?"

"Almost..." Orcus hissed. He bent down. "May I have the honor of killing her?"

"Of course." Megatron smiled. He ripped Pantha's sword away from the femme before getting off her. As soon as she was released, Pantha got to her feet and ran for her life.

"Let the hunt begin." Orcus smiled before jumping into the trees.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dinobot and Cheetor gaped at the bloody Transformer that was stumbling towards them. The femme had an alt form of a colorful parrot and was actually the one that had screamed, using Dinobot's voice, instead of the Transmetal 2 raptor. She looked at the two Maximals and then fell to the ground. As soon as she did, Dinobot ran over to her and moved the femme so she was lying on her back. "Are you alright? Who are you?" 

"Get away from me..." The femme said weakly. "I don't need your help...Predacon..."

"It's alright." Cheetor said, walking over to the femme. He picked her up gently. "We're Maximals. We're going to help you."

The parrot femme looked at Cheetor, her soft red optics dull. "My name's-" She gasped sharply as the pain coursed through her body, "Oumu. I'm a Maximal too." Oumu groaned.

Dinobot snorted as he stood up. The raptor looked at the bloody femme in Cheetor's arms and then looked at Rattrap and Tolero. "Let's get her back to the ship." He growled, "Before that werewolf comes back."

"Wait a nano-click, Chopperface." Rattrap muttered. "What the slag are ya doin' here? De boss lady sent us ta get the pod. You were-"

"I left the base to hunt this monster on my own, vermin." Dinobot growled. "It was only then did I see the femme. She copied my voice and ran. I followed her. That's when you came in." He glared at the others.

Tolero motioned for everyone to calm down. "Now, now, we don't need to start a fight out here, do we? No. We need to get Oumu to the base and into a Chamber, stat." He said, looking at the three other mechs. Tolero looked at the femme in Cheetor's arms. "You'll be alright."

Oumu smiled slightly as her optics clicked off. She sighed softly and nuzzled into Cheetor's chest, her feathers slightly tickling the cat's noise. Cheetor twitched his cat nose, but didn't say anything about it as he started to walk towards the base. "So...Oumu..."

The parrot let out a small "hmm?" in Cheetor's voice that made the cat chuckle. He looked at the femme. "Do you like to play human board games?" He asked, smiling, "Because if you do, then you'll love it at the Axalon." Cheetor grinned a goofy grin.

Dinobot, Tolero and Rattrap all looked at each other and Rattrap grinned a goofy grin. "Ah, young love." He said in a French accent, but then went back to his normal one, "Ain't it beautiful?"

"What would be beautiful is if you would shut up for once." Dinobot growled and Tolero shook his head, smiling. The raptor growled again and followed Cheetor and the others back to the _Axalon II_.

Tolero looked at his friends and then sighed. He looked at Rattrap and grinned. "It's good to be back, Rattrap." He smiled before leading the way to the ship.

* * *

Pantha panted as she ran from the laughter behind her. "Oh, Primus above please help me..." She whispered as she jumped over a log. The femme made a quick, left turn and started to run again when a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a bush. Another hand covered her mouth, cutting off the scream that had started to rise in her throat. Her spark pounded in her chest as she froze with fear. Then she realized something. The hands that held her weren't covered with fur. The 'bot that had her wasn't Orcus...but...if it wasn't him...then who had her? 

The hands pulled Pantha closer as Orcus ran past the bushes. He stopped, sniffed the air and growled. The werewolf smiled. "You can run and you can hide, my dear, but I will find you and then do to you what I did to that other femme I found." He grinned his sick grin before running off again.

As soon as Orcus was out of sight, the hands released her and Pantha panted, her hand over her spark. She shook slightly. "Damn...werewolf...almost had me...But who..." She turned around to look at who had saved her and blinked. "Waspy?"

"No." Waspinator shook his head. His voice was deeper and didn't have the buzzing quality to it. "I'm not Waspinator, I'm just using his body...for now. My name is Curator. I'm Orcus' brother."

"What! Get out of Waspy's-" Pantha started to yell, but Waspinator quickly covered her mouth.

"Shh! Please. I don't want my brother to find us." Curator said softly. He removed his hand from the femme's mouth. "I'm sorry if I startled you, but I must make this quick. Your friend's body can't sustain me for long before it starts to seriously hurt him."

Pantha glared at the 'bot, but nodded. "Then hurry. But I swear, you hurt him and-"

"I promise I won't. Now, my brother and I are millions of years old." The mech started to explain, "We were born on Cybertron a long time ago, even then, though, my brother enjoyed inflicting pain on others. Later, he killed a family of Autobots and the Autobot Council..."

"I know, go on."

"Thank you. However, I felt somewhere deep in my spark that my brother wasn't gone and I was correct. Just a year after his death, another Transformer started killing and ripping apart other Transformers. However, no one knew who it was, but I did. I hunted him down and then found him. Turns out, I was right. My brother was alive. I confronted him and we fought. I ended up dying. However, my spark was bound to his for unknown reasons and I was forced to go wherever he went, only able to control his body when he entered recharge. Even then, my control was limited."

"I see..." Pantha nodded. "Anything else?"

"Yes. My brother can travel through space and time. This is then eleventh Beast Wars we've come apon and so far, my brother had murdered everyone from the last ten Beast Wars. I have a feeling that if we don't do something...the death toll is only going to rise."

"So how do we stop him, Curator?"

"In order-" The voice stopped and then Waspinator's body let out a painfilled yell. He fell back and clutched his chest, arching his back slightly.

"Waspy!" Pantha yelled, scrambling over to her friend's side. "Curator, what's wrong! What are you doing to him!"

"N-Nothing...he's fighting me..." Curator groaned as he arched his back a little more. "He wants me to get out of his head!"

"I would fight you to if you took of my body and were hurting me!" The cat yelled as she held down Waspinator's shaking body as the bug tried to fight an unknown, invisable force.

"I'm not-" Curator's voice changed to Waspinator's voice. The bug sounded frightened, "Help Wazzpinator, catbot! Spirit hurting Wazzpinator! Get out of Wazzpinator'zz head!"

Pantha put her hands on Waspinator's chest and held him down with more force as the wasp started to fight more. She looked into his optics. "Waspinator, calm down. Curator will leave you soon, okay? Just hold on." The femme said softly. "Please."

"No! Make spirit leave Wazzpinator'zz head now!" Waspinator looked at Pantha with huge, frightened optics. He whimpered. "Plzz...Wazzpinator don't like spirit in Wazzpinator'zz head..."

The feline sighed. "Curator, leave Waspinator's body. Now." She muttered, looking Waspinator in the optics. "I know you're still there. Now leave him."

Curator spoke again and when he did, Waspinator's optics widened with fright, "I must-"

"YOU!" Pantha hissed, cutting Curator off. She dug her claws into the bug's chest, not meaning to. "MUST leave his body! NOW! He's frightened!"

Curator sighed. "Very well. As you wish..." He said in his voice before making Waspinator sigh. A blue ball flew out of the bug's mouth and into the air. Waspinator's optics clicked off for a few seconds and then the bot stopped shaking. He went limp and his optics opened. "Catbot?" The 'bot asked in his own voice.

Pantha smiled. "Yeah, Waspy. It's me."

"Catbot get rid of spirit?" Waspinator asked, "Wazzpinator not able to feel spirit anymore..."

"He's gone, Waspy. He left you." Pantha smiled softly as she got off of the mech. The femme stood up and offered Waspinator a hand to help him up. "Here. Lemme help you up."

Waspinator took the cat's hand and the femme pulled him to his feet. The wasp looked around. "What Catbot and Wazzpinator doing in forest?"

"Getting out of here and heading back to the base." Pantha smiled. "Good to have you back to normal, Waspy."

Waspinator smiled back weakly and started to walk away when the sadistic laugh of Orcus' rang through the forest. His optics widened with fright and he jumped slightly when he felt something cling to his arm. The thing that was clinging to his arm turned out to be Pantha, her optics wide with fright. The femme was clinging to Waspinator's arm like a scared sparkling and shaking slightly. "S-See?" Pantha asked, smiling weakly. "I told you I was afraid of him..."

Waspinator looked at Pantha, suprised, and then jumped again when the wolf's laugh echoed through the woods agian. He felt Pantha's grip on his arm tighten and he winced. The wasp looked around, scared. "Who'zzz there?" He buzzed.

The wolf jumped from the branches he was hiding from to right in front of the two. He glared at them and then smiled a little at Pantha. "Hello again. Finally found you."

Pantha eeped and moved behind Waspinator. Sure, she was the Maximal leader, but even Maximal commanders had fears. And this guy was one of her biggest ones. The cat glared at Orcus. "How the hell did you find us?" She asked, her voice sounding no where near as afraid as she really was.

"I saw my little bro..." Orcus smirked. "Ah, the two that got away. Heh. This was all too easy...both of you at once..." He smiled his sick, twisted smile and then, quick as lightening, pulled out his laser and fired at the two.

Pantha yelped and pushed her friend out of the way. The femme let out a small whimper as the shots hit her arm and leg. She fell to the ground and pulled out a taser as she tried to stand. "Take this!" Pantha yelled, throwing the taser at Orcus. She smiled as it hit his face.

Orcus let out a pain filled roar, clutching his face, and stumbled back. Waspinator backed up and swallowed, scared to death. Pantha stood up and pulled out another taser. "Go back to the pit you crawled out of, you psycho!" She spat.

Orcus ripped the taser off his face and glared at the cat. "How dare you do that to me!" He yelled, his left hand over the side of his face. "You little glitch!" He took a step closer to Pantha and the cat growled. "I let you live and you dared-"

"SHUT UP AND GO TO THE FRAGGING PIT!" The cat yelled, throwing more and more tasers at the mech.

Orcus growled and jumped into the trees, dodging the tasers. His growl seemed to come from everywhere as Pantha finally calmed down. All of a sudden, three knives from one of the trees and slashed Waspinator's arms and pinned the wasp to a tree by his wing. "Got one of you..." He smiled.

Waspinator let out a yell of pain as he was pinned against the tree. He reached up to the pull the knife out of his wing when a shot his him arm and it fell, completely usless now. "What the-? What wolfbot do to Wazzpinator'zz arm?" He asked, trying to move the numb limb.

"It's poisoned, Waspinator." Pantha said as she ran over to the wasp. She pulled the knife out of his wing. "His gun has a poison in it that'll shut off that limp and/or body part." She growled and then tried to wiggle the claws on her right hand. "Slag. See?"

Waspinator looked up and then his optics widened. The wasp grabbed Pantha and pulled her to the ground as a laser blast rang out. He covered his head as a loud '_CRACK'_ was heard and then a '_CRASH' _as well. When he and Pantha looked up, the tree that had been behind them was now on the ground and Megatron and QuickStrike stood across from Orcus, glaring at Pantha.

The femme stood up. "Oh sweet mother of Primus above, I'm slagged." She muttered as she pulled out her sword.

"Ah...there you are, Waspinator..." Megatron smiled. He raised his arm/laser to fire on Pantha when Orcus growled. "Oh, that's right, forgive me, partner. She's yours."

Pantha eeped and looked at Orcus.

"What Megatron mean when Megatron called wolfbot 'partner'?" Waspinator buzzed nervously.

"Simple. The wolf and I have agreed on a truce."

"Truce?" Both Waspinator and Pantha gaped. They looked at each other and blinked.

"Doezzz that mean Wazzpinator hazz to work with wolfbot?" Waspinator asked, looking at Megatron.

"Yes, Waspinator, do you have a problem with that?" Megatron growled, glaring at the wasp. "Because if you do, may I remind you how much I hate people who have a problem with the choices I make?"

Waspinator buzzed nervously. He looked at Pantha and then at Megatron, his optics narrow. "Yezzz...Wazzpinator doezzz have problem with Megatron'zz decizzzion!" He growled.

"What? Waspinator-"

"Wazzpinator tired of being blown up! Wazzpinator hazzn't been blown up zzince Wazzpinator trained. (True, Wazzpinator hazzn't fought, but that'zz beyond the point.) Wazzpinator quit! Again!" Waspinator growled, cutting Megatron off. He flew into the air and fired at Megatron with his optic lasers and then turned to Orcus. He fired again, catching the werewolf 'bot by suprise, and knocked him into a tree. The wasp flew towards the ground and fired at QuickStrike with his stinger gun. Waspinator smiled as he turned away from the bots.

"Waspinator..." Megatron growled, "You just made a terrible mistake that will cost you dearly!"

A blast hit Megatron in the face. "Wrong, Mega-Dork!" Pantha growled. "Waspy just made the best choice he's ever made!" She put her tasers away and got ready for another fight with Megatron when an two arms wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her side, and lifted her a few inches off the ground. Pantha hissed and kicked. "Let go of me! Now! I swear I'll kill you!"

Orcus laughed. "That's what you think, my dear." He threw Pantha against a tree and pulled out an Energon blade. "Time to see that pretty spark of yours again."

Pantha froze with terror. She curled up, covering her chest with her arms, and tensed up, ready to claw or bite if the mech came close to her with that blade. The cat cut off her optics and her ears flicked along with her tail, warning the mech.

Orcus merely laughed and walked closer to the femme. He stopped suddenly, though, and let out a groan. The wolf let out a moan and fell fowards. He let out a blood curdling howl as he clutched his bleeding stomach. "Who-Who...did that!" Orcus growled. "Who's the fragger that DARES to do this..."

Megatron looked at his fallen partner and sneered. "So he's all talk..." However, the mech trailed off when Orcus got to his feet, the wound in his stomach completely healed. "Then again..."

Waspinator gulped as Orcus turned his glare towards him. The bug narrowed his optics again and then dove towards the werewolf. He fired his wing missile s, knocking Orcus out of the way, and swooped down. He buzzed and turned upwards just before he hit the tree. "Catbot okay?" Waspinator asked as he flew in the air.

Orcus stood up and looked over at the tree. He growled when he saw that Pantha was missing and the bug had yet again injured him. However, those injuries healed even quicker than the last and then he looked at Megatron and QuickStrike, "Well! Are you going to get rid of the traitor or not!"

Megatron simply smiled and looked up. He fired at the wasp bot.

Pantha opened her optics when she heard Waspinator talking to her. She looked down, feeling weird, and then yelped. The femme wrapped her arms around the mech's neck and clung to him tightly. "Don't you ever do that again..." She panted. "Yes, I'm fine. What about you?"

"Wazzpinator can still not feel arm, but luckily catbot not that heavy." Waspinator shrugged.

"That's good." Pantha smiled. She looked down again and then yelped. "Waspy, DODGE! Now!"

Waspinator quickly flew upwards and looked down at his once fellow Predacons. The wasp took a deep breath and then flew as fast as he could away from the fight. Once they were far enough away and he didn't hear Megatron's jet engines, he slowed down and sighed.

"Waspy, you didn't have to quit the Predacons if you didn't want to..." Pantha said, knowing what the wasp was thinking.

Waspinator sighed. "Wazzpinator knowzz. Wazzpinator wanted to leave Predaconzz, though...Wazzpinator wazz tired of getting blown up...plus, Maxximalzz not attack Wazzpinator or steal hizz thingzz..." The Ex-Pred smiled.

Pantha chuckled as she looked down. "There's the base, Waspy."

"Wazzpinator sezz..." The bug muttered as he landed. He let go of Pantha's waist when they were a feet from the ground and the femme landed gracefully on the ground. Waspinator landed behind the femme and touched the back of his head. "Wazzpinator wonder..."

"Hmm?" Pantha asked, turning slightly. She saw what Waspinator was doing and walked over to him. "What's wrong? Head hurt?" The femme asked as she moved behind him. There, she saw his Pred symbol on the back of his head. "Oh. That's what's wrong. Well...we can fix that..."

"Really?" Waspinator asked, his wings buzzed slightly. He looked at the feline and blinked.

Pantha laughed at the bug's enthusiasm and grabbed his arm gently. "C'mon, we can turn that into a Maxi symbol in no time." She smiled, pulling the wasp into the _Axalon II._

Waspinator smiled as Pantha pulled him towards the med bay. He had a feeling being a Maximal would be a lot more fun, not to mention safer, than being a Predacon. Shoot, he could probably make up a list of all the ways that being a good guy was better than being a bad guy, but he didn't feel like it. He wasn't good at making lists, anyways.

As the door to the Axalon shut behind the two Maximals, two, red optics watched them. They narrowed and then blinked. "Another Beast Wars? Maybe I could finally stop here..." He sniffed the air. "No...not him..."

* * *

Pantha:...You love having mystirious mechs, don't you? 

RG:...Yeah, pretty much.

Pantha: (Deadpans)

TriDrac: (Eats popcorn) So who's the femme?

RG: If you were paying attention, that was Oumu. It means "parrot" in Japanese.

Tri: Really?

Pantha and RG: Yes! (Growls)

Orucs: Shall we?

Rampage: They ain't gonna...

Orcus: Very well...Read and Review, please. If you don't...we'll sneak out of our cages and kill you all! (Laughs)

RG: HEY! Who let you two out of your cages?

Orcus and Rampage: Uh...(Blinks and then runs)

RG:...right...anyways...next chap I promise there shall be a death! I jus' gotta figure out who to kill since NO ONE BOTHERS TO REQUEST!

Pantha:...Better?

RG: No.


	7. Escape, The Death Toll Rises

**Disclaimer: Don't own Transformers or Beast Wars. I own Oumu, Pantha, TriDrac, Curator, Orcus, Axalon II, Midnight, and I think that's all of them.**

RG: Yay! Dances Finally! Took me all night to do this chap...

Pantha: Sweatdrops Jus' get to the chap.

RG: Sticks out tongue Nyah! Anyways...onto the story!

* * *

SilverBolt sighed as he looked at the monitor. Monitor duty was boring, but the noble Maximal would never complain about his jobs. He stifled a yawn and then looked around. The only other person in the control room was Cheetor and he was too busy waiting on the CR Chamber to finish its job to talk. This brought a smile to SilverBolt's face. It was obvious the cat had a crush on the newest Maximal, Oumu, but was too scared and/or nervous to tell the femme. "Cheetor." 

Cheetor turned slightly. "Yes, 'Bolt?" He asked, looking at the older Maximal.

"She'll be fine. We found her in time. Don't worry." SilverBolt smiled as he turned back to the monitors.

"I know, SilverBolt, but still…after how bad that psycho hurt her, I want to make sure that she'll be okay." The cat sighed. "I mean…he left her bleeding and injured and…"

"Cheetor. She'll be okay."

Cheetor smiled a little and then turned back to the CR Chamber. He heard SilverBolt chuckle behind him and he turned. "What's up, 'Bolt?"

SilverBolt looked at Cheetor, "Nothing. It's just…you seem to have a crush on the young femme you found." He said, smiling. "And she does you."

Cheetor blushed slightly. "Wha-? No. I mean…I don't think-" But before the feline could finish, the CR Chamber's doors opened, revealing Oumu. Cheetor turned to look at the femme and blinked.

Oumu was brightly colored and had a slim, delicate figure. She had bright, red wings on her back that reminded Cheetor of angel's wings. Her beast mode's head was on her chest and she had soft, red optics. Her feet were bird's talons and her hands were small compared to the others, but just the right size for a bird's hands, if they had any. Oumu blinked and smiled at Cheetor. "Hello. Again."

"Uh...hi." Cheetor smiled back. He blinked and then realized he was staring at the femme. "Uh...why don't I show you around?" He offered, blushing slightly.

Oumu smiled at Cheetor and then nodded. "Sure. If don't mind." The femme said in her own voice, which was somewhat gentle, but it still had a warrior's tone to it.

"Of course not. Let's go."

Oumu smiled as Cheetor grabbed her arm gently and started to pull her out of the control room. She laughed slightly as she started to run with the cat. "Where to first?"

"I have no clue, rec room?"

"Okay."

SilverBolt smiled as he watched the two run out of the control room. He turned back to the monitor when two arms wrapped around his neck and shoulders. The mech smiled. "BlackArachnia."

The she spider simply smiled. "Yes, Bowser Boy?" She teased. "What's wrong, monitor duty too exciting for ya?"

"If only, my love."

BlackArachnia laughed lightly as she hugged the mech warmly. She nuzzled his check with hers and watched the monitor with him. "Then allow me join you."

Meanwhile, TriDrac and Rattrap were playing "Battleship" when a pretty pissed Pantha ran into the room, soaking wet. The femme glared at TriDrac. "TRI! How DARE you! You know I HATE WATER!" She hissed.

TriDrac simply smiled. "What? You think I did this?"

"Did you?" Rattrap asked.

"Yeah."

"TRIDRAC!" Pantha yelled as she tackled him. The two wrestled, TriDrac laughing and Pantha hissing. When she finally clawed him, TriDrac realized he had gone too far with his prank.

"Pantha, stop!" TriDrac yelled as he kicked the femme off him. "I'm sorry! I didn't know you would take it like this…"

"I'm a WET CAT!" Pantha yelled.

TriDrac took a step back. "Run?"

"I would recommend it, kiddo." Rattrap nodded.

"Gotcha."

TriDrac yelped and ran out of the room like Unicron himself was after him. Pantha hissed and ran out of the room, following. She started to run on all fours when she slipped and ran right into a wall. The femme groaned and let out as many curses as a femme her age should never use. Finally, she stopped cursing and sat up. "Ow. Tri's sooooooooooo dead!"

Just as Pantha was standing up, a scream was heard. The femme yelped and ran towards the source of the scream. As she turned a corner, Cheetor and Oumu joined her. Oumu was flying while Cheetor was running next to Pantha. "What the slag was that, big cat?"

"I don't know, but I know it came from outside!" Pantha said as the two ran outisde. They pulled out their weapons and were just about to enter the forest when a bloody femme limped out of the forest. Pantha gasped.

The femme looked at the two and gasped. She placed her hand over her spark and collapsed. Pantha ran forwards and caught the femme. "Slag…Orcus did this to her…" She muttered. "Who is she?"

"I don't know, but she's got an Autobot symbol…" Cheetor muttered.

"What? Quickly, let's get her inside." Pantha grunted as she picked the owl up. "She looks a little like Midnight, but not quite."

Cheetor nodded as he opened a Chamber and helped Pantha put the newest femme in. "I wonder who she is…"

"Who knows?" Pantha sighed as she sat down. "I'll watch her. You show Oumu around."

"Yes ma'am." Cheetor saluted before walking off.

Pantha sat back and waited.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the CR Chamber, the new femme, whose name was Talon, was dreaming about the nightmare that had just happened to her.**Dream**

Talon groaned as she opened her optics. She looked around and then tried to sit up, but noticed she couldn't. "What the slag? Where am I!" The owl yelled as she struggled against the straps that bound her to the cold, metal table that was covered with…Energon!

"Don't struggle, my dear." A cold voice grinned. Told looked up and saw a werewolf walk into view. His grin sent a chill down the owl's spine. "We're about to have some fun. So don't…struggle…"

Talon's optics widened when she saw the Energon blade in Orcus' hand. She tried to struggle, but the straps held her in place as the werewolf put his blade to her chest and cut. Talon let out as many curses as she could before the wolf stopped after a minute. She glared at him. "What are you going to do!"

"This." Orcus smiled as he reached into Talon's chest and grabbed her spark. He squeezed.

Talon arched her back and let out a shrill screech that matched her alt mode's screech. Her optics flickered with pain.

Orcus stopped after a minute and removed his hand. He smiled at the panting femme and then licked his claws. "That was fun…for me." The wolf smiled his sadistic smile as Talon cursed in as many different languages as she knew. "Now, now, let's not start that, shall we?" Orcus grinned as he leaned down next to the femme's ear. "Let's not make things any worse than they have to be, hmm?"

Talon glared at Orcus and cussed out even more. The femme winced as her spark gave off a sharp pain, but continued to glare at the werewolf. However, this only egged Orcus on and the mech reached into Talon's chest again. He squeezed as hard as he could.

Talon arched her back and her head shot back. The femme screamed for all she was worth.

**End Dream**

* * *

Talon's optics shot open and she screamed. The femme stopped after a minute and panted. "Where the-? Where the hell am I?" She asked as she looked around. "Some sort of chamber…I've got to get out!" The owl grunted and started to pound the Chamber's door.

A minute later, the door opened and Talon tumbled out. She looked up and saw a black femme that looked like she was both machine and animal looking down at her with a green bot that also looked like he was both machine and animal. The femme blinked. "Uh…you okay?"

Talon shot up and looked at the two. "What the hell are you!" She asked, then looked at herself. She too, was half animal, half machine. "Wha..."

"I'm Pantha. Maximal commander." The black femme smiled as she pointed to herself. "This is Waspinator. Ex-Predacon."

The wasp smiled and his hand flew up a little in a half wave. He buzzed.

Talon looked at Pantha and then at Waspinator. "Who the-? Where's Scavenger! Where are the Autobots!"

"Autobotzzz?" Waspinator buzzed.

Pantha blinked. "I'm afraid the Autobots have been gone for over millions of years…" She said softly. "Who are you?"

"Talon. I'm an Autobot…" The owl sighed. "You're telling the truth, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Great…"

"Perhaps we should explain." Pantha sighed. "First, let's get you to a room and then you can tell me about Orcus."

"Who?"

"The werewolf that did that to you." Pantha pointed to Talon's chest, where the scar was.

Talon looked down and let out a growl. She looked at Pantha. "Seems he's gotten both of us."

"Waspy too. And Terrorsaur. And Oumu. And Midnight and Tolero." Pantha shook her head. "He's only killed two so far, but…."

Talon let out a growl and Pantha shut up. The owl femme touched the scar on her chest and cursed. "Slag that fragger…"

"I know what you mean, Talon, that…" The feline stopped and sighed. "Why don't I show you around and help you settle down into your room?"

"Thanks." Talon smiled.

"No problem, let's go. SilverBolt, BlackArachnia, it's your turn on patrol. Waspy, you're now on monitor duty. Talon, let's go!" Pantha grinned, pulling the owl out of the control room.

SilverBolt and BlackArachnia looked at each other. The two smiled and transformed before leaving the base to go on patrol.

Waspinator sighed as he watched the others leave. He blinked, sighed again and then sat down to begin his shift on monitor duty. The mech pulled out a paddleball toy and smiled. "Wazzpinator prepared for loooong megacycle." He grinned as he started to play with it when suddenly the entire base plunged into darkness. Waspinator yelped and sat up strait, pocketing the paddleball into sub space, and then looked around the control room, trying to see through the darkness. "Who turn on the dark?"

"I dunno, Waspy. Move!"

Waspinator felt himself being pushed out of the way and he stumbled a little. The wasp heard typing a frustrated growl. "Catbot?"

"Shh, Waspy!"

"What the hell!" Talon's voice yelled. "What happened?"

"I dunno!" Pantha yelled back, "Power was cut from outside! Rattrap, come in!"

Static.

"Slaggit! Comms ain't working! Talon, can you go outside and look around for what caused the outage? Try to fix it if you can, please. Waspy, stay here and try to get the emergency power on. I'm gonna go find the others and see if they know what's going on."

"You got it, Pantha!" Talon smiled as she transformed into beast mode. The femme flew into the air and then out of the ship.

Pantha blinked and slits appeared in her optics as pupils. She looked around. "I _love _being a cat!" She smiled as she looked around. The femme spotted Waspinator. "Stay here, Waspy, and try to get the power back up, if you can, that is. Rattrap'll join you once I find him."

Waspinator nodded, even though he didn't want to repair the machine. He didn't know the first thing about getting power up or repairing anything. However, something about the femme's pupils made him agree to it anyways.

Pantha smiled. "Thanks, Waspy. The machine's hidden under that monitor. Why do you think I never let anyone use that one, hmm? Beast mode." The femme said, transforming. She sped out of the room a second later, looking for her friends.

Waspinator sighed as he walked over to the machine. "Wazzpinator not know firzzzt thing about power machine…Wazzpinator not like dark either…"

"I love it." A voice hissed. Two, blood red optics appeared and watched the bug. "Why don't you?"

Waspinator froze at the voice. He knew that voice. "Crabbot?"

"...Exactly…" The voice hissed before tackling Waspinator to the ground.

* * *

Talon transformed and landed on the base's roof. It was nighttime, but that didn't bother the owl. After all, she had her beast mode's powerful eyes to help her see in the dark. The bird femme walked over to a spot on the roof and bent down. There, her optics spotted a cleanly cut cable. Talon touched it and then pulled her hand back as the electricity shocked her a little. "Ow. Yep. This is the cable…" She muttered. **Pantha, I found the cable. **Talon reported into her comm., but then remembered that the comms weren't working. "Oh well…time to get to work…"

* * *

Pantha sighed as she ran through the base. All of a sudden, she let out a yelp as she ran into something very…fuzzy? "Ow! Guess my optics aren't that good…" 

"No, my fur's just as black as this infuriating darkness." Tolero's voice smiled as he helped the femme up. "You okay?"

"Yeah, thanks, d-Tolero." Pantha muttered. She looked around. "You seen any of the others?"

"I'm afraid not." Tolero shook his head, his red optics moved from side to side, making a red visor looking light in the dark hallway. "You were on your way to find them, correct?"

"Yeah." Pantha nodded. She smiled at the comforting red optics. "Let's-" But before Pantha could even finish, the lights came back on. The femme let out a small, soft sigh. "Well, that's good news. Let me see if this is Waspy's doing or Talon's." **Talon. **Pantha said into her comm.

**Yeah, Pantha. I fixed it. Power _is _on now, right?**Talon's voice asked through the comm., nervously.

**Yes. Thank you, Talon.**

Tolero nodded. "Well, now that power's back on, I'm going to go back to work analyzing." He said before turning around and heading back to his room.

"See ya, Tolero." The femme smiled. She commed everyone else just to make sure they were okay and then headed back to the control room. When she got there, however, Pantha's mouth dropped and she stared, mouth open, at the sight in front of her.

Waspinator was lying on the ground in a pool of Energon. The mech's optics were off, but his low breathing told Pantha that he was still alive…for now. The femme rushed over to the wasp and picked him up in her arms. "Waspy? Waspy, what happened! Waspy, slaggit, answer me!"

"Crab…bot…" The wasp weezed, his optics flickered dangerously as he looked at Pantha. Waspinator shivered as he bled. "Crabbot attacked…Wazzpinator…in the dark…"

"Oh Primus…Rampage…" Pantha whispered. She held the bot and ran towards the CR Chamber. When she was almost there, however, she ran into Dinobot. Pantha stumbled back. "Outta my way, Dinobot!"

Dinobot looked at the femme and then at the Energon covered Waspinator in her arms before he permitted her to pass. The Transmetal 2 raptor followed, sniffing the air around Pantha and Waspinator as he did. "Rampage…" He growled.

"Yeah, DB. Rampage." Pantha growled as she hurried over to a CR Chamber. The femme placed Waspinator in and then looked at Dinobot. "Now we've got two psychos on the loose…"

Dinobot let out a sigh.

"We're all gonna die…"

Dinobot looked up at Pantha's words. He smirked a little, but it fell as he saw the seriousness in her optics. The raptor growled and looked at the Energon on both of their bodies. He wiped some of it off. "Rampage is free…Orcus," Pantha flinched, "is still out there…hunting us…no doubt those two will team up."

Pantha, who had sat down in a chair, wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. The femme pulled her knees up to her chin. "I hope not, Dinobot…I really hope they don't…" She said, her voice full of fear. "Orcus is bad enough, but with Rampage…"

"We're all gonna die." Rattrap's voice growled. He looked at the two Maximals and sighed. "I told you, kitten, that-"

Pantha shot to her feet. "I don't want to hear it, Rattrap!" She hissed. "I know what I did was stupid, okay! What more do you want from me! You want me to go out there and defeat these psychos single handedly! I _can't_! I just…_can't._ I'm not…him…so get off my case 'cause I'm doing the best I slaggin' can!" With that, the feline turned and left the room in a huff.

Rattrap looked at Dinobot. "Shut up, Chopperface."

Dinobot let out a growl as he looked at the rat. "Vermin…" He snarled, turning. Dinobot walked out of the room, leaving Rattrap alone in the room.

* * *

Meanwhile, Talon, who had just come back inside the base after she finished repairing the power cable, walked into the control room and saw the mess. The first words out of her mouth were, "What the hell!" 

"Rampage." Cheetor muttered as he finished cleaning the Energon up. He turned to the owl femme and sighed. "He escaped while the power was off and came into the control room to escape and…he found Waspinator and, I guess he missed causing pain…"

"He didn't…" Talon whispered.

"He did. Waspinator only just made it…" The cat said softly, shaking his head. He sighed and looked at the owl femme.

"That…damn fragger!"

"Yeah, I know, Talon."

Talon let out a growl, but looked around the room. "What now?"

"I don't know." Cheetor sighed.

* * *

Meanwhile, the now free Rampage grinned as he drove through the forest in tank mode, ignoring the cries of the animals and other things that he ran over. He was free again. And that thought…made his mind go wild with ideas. First thing was first, though, he had to find this…Orcus that the Maximals talked about. Orcus sounded like a good business partner and, even though he wouldn't be an ally in a way, he would still be someone Rampage could join in order to cause other bot's misery. Just the thought made his spark pulse with happiness. 

Rampage was just about to leave the forest when he felt someone's pain pulse through his spark. The mech transformed and followed the welcomed sense of agony until he reached a small cave that was built into a caynon wall. Rampage walked into the brightly lit cave and a scream hit his audios. It was, however, soon cut off and a coking sound was heard. The crabbot walked into the room and a voice laughed.

"My, my, I see my plan worked. You escaped, Rampage." The cold, eerie voice chuckled darkly.

"Yes…" Rampage growled. "Now, who are you and why did you help me? Do you even know who I am?"

A clatter was heard and something rolled out of the shadows and hit Rampage's foot. When the mech looked down, he saw NightScream's head staring up at him, his optics black with death and his face twisted into a terrified, pain filled scream like Terrorsaur's and Midnight's had been. Rampage picked up the head and looked at it. "So I take it this means that _you _are the Orcus I have been hearing about?"

"Yes, I suppose I am." The cold voice said as the werewolf mech walked out of the shadows, his body covered in the bat's Energon. He looked Rampage over and then smiled. "I heard about Omicron and what you did there…"

"And?"

"Would you care to join me?" Orcus asked as he walked into the shadows. A moment later, he brought out pieces of NightScream's wing. "I know how much you enjoy the pain and suffering of other 'bots…and I know how much you long to cause it…" He looked at Rampage, "So, are you with me or against me?"

Rampage glared at Orcus as the werewolf crushed NightScream's wing in his claws and then sprinkled it into the wind. His optics lit up with a passionate hate and lust for bloodshed. The crab's smile returned.

* * *

SilverBolt sighed as he and BlackArachnia explored the forest on patrol. If there was one thing they loved about patrol duty was that Pantha always stuck them together just like most of their jobs were together. The two walked through the forest and were just about to head back to the _Axalon II_ when a laugh rang through the dense undergrowth. Both of the bonded couple immediately transformed and got out their weapons. 

Rampage laughed as he stepped out of the bushes. "My, my, afraid, are we?" He teased the couple.

BlackArachnia growled at the mech while SilverBolt glared at him. The two prepared to attack Rampage when something hit the ground in front of them. Both looked down and saw something wrapped in a leathery substance. SilverBolt bent down and grabbed it while BlackArachnia kept glaring at Rampage. Once the mech opened the package, however, he and the she spider both gasped. "NightScream!"

Orcus' voice laughed. "So…you like my handiwork?"

"Monster!" BlackArachnia spat.

Orcus laughed his cold, unfeeling laugh. "What's wrong, don't you like it?"

"You…you…fiend!" SilverBolt snarled. He shivered and covered NightScream's face with the leathery substance that was…"His wing! You did this to him and then tear his wings!" The mech growled.

"Call it a taste of what is yet to come." Orcus grinned as his optics lit up in the darkness. The mech's optics looked down. "Rampage."

Rampage smiled and pulled out his cannon. "Fire." The crab growled before firing at the couple.

* * *

Waspinator let out a small whimper as the CR Chamber's opened. He expected to be back in the Predacon base for some reason with Megatron and the others glaring at him. Instead, the familiar, warm faces of Cheetor, Tolero and Pantha greeted the mech as he stepped out of the chamber. He looked at the faces of his Maximal friends and blinked. "Wazzpinator…zzzzurvived?" 

"Barely." Pantha said softly.

Cheetor looked at the wasp. "You okay, Waspinator? Rampage…" He trailed off and Tolero took over.

"He escaped and got you on his way out."

Waspinator buzzed nervously and his wings twitched. "Wazzpinator knowzzz…"

"It was my fault, Waspy." Pantha said softly, not looking at the mech. "I…shouldn't have made you stay and turn on the machine. I'm the one that knows the most about that and I should have stayed…I also shouldn't have brought Rampage into the base…"

"Not catbot'zzz fault…"

Cheetor opened his mouth to say something when a voice laughed through his comm.. "Oh no." He muttered.

"Oh yes! Remember me!" The insane voice laughed.

"Orcus…" Pantha shivered. "What do you want! How did you get our signal!"

"Well…let's just say that she won't need it anymore…" Orcus smiled.

"She? BLACKARACHNIA!" The feline screeched. "YOU DIDN'T!"

"I did!" Orcus laughed.

Tolero looked and saw everyone's terrified faces. "Where is her body!" He demanded, growling.

"With her precious lover. He's bringing both hers and the bat's body…I only hope he'll make it that far with all the fun Rampage and I had with him…"

"Rampage!" Pantha snarled. "Cheetor! Cut it!"

Cheetor turned off his comm., ending the transmission. The feline looked at Pantha, his face worried. "What now, big cat?"

"Tolero, Cheetor, go find and help SilverBolt. Now!" Pantha snarled. As soon as the mechs were gone, Pantha walked out of the room, tears running down her face.

Waspinator, who appeared to have been completely forgotten, looked at the femme and walked after her. He placed his hand on her shoulder and Pantha turned around. "Cat…bot?" The wasp asked when he saw the tears.

"I can't…do this…" Pantha whimpered. She wiped the tears away, but more came. "I just…can't…"

"Hey-huh? What's wrong?" Talon's voice asked.

The two turned and saw that the owl femme had walked into the room. Pantha spoke up after a moment of silence. "BlackArachnia and NightScream are…dead…" She said, her voice breaking. The sobs stayed in her throat and therefore, cause her throat to hurt, but she was not going to cry. She…just didn't cry…

Talon blinked. "D-Dead? Who killed them?"

"The same person that did this to us." Pantha said, pointing to her scar. "And this to Waspy." The femme showed Talon the scars on Waspinator's arms.

Talon growled. "Orcus…"

"Exactly…and Rampage…"

"Rampage? He joined…oh shit. We're doomed."

"Exactly."

* * *

Meanwhile, Tolero and Cheetor were hurrying towards SilverBolt's last known position, hoping to get to the mech before he succumbed to his injuries and died. If he wasn't already dead, that is. The two Maximals were just about to leave the forest to check the nearby lake and canyon when they heard a low, pained groan. Both quickly transformed and looked at each other before looking around for the pain filled cry. Finally, they found it. 

SilverBolt was struggling to walk, his body covered in mech fluid and Energon. One of his wings was missing and he had cuts all over his body; in his optics, he had a look of pure sorrow and emptiness. The mech had BlackArachnia's beaten, broken and bloody body in his arms. The she spider was missing a few legs and her chest was not only cut open, but torn open as well. In her chest, the bright blue glow of a spark that was supposed to be there…was missing.

Cheetor and Tolero looked at each other, blinked, aghast at their friend's shapes, and then ran over to SilverBolt. Both opened their mouths to say something, but Cheetor was the first to recover and speak. "SilverBolt, what-what happened!"

SilverBolt looked up at Cheetor with lifeless, beaten optics and opened his mouth to say something when he gasped sharply. Pain coursed throughout his body and the mech fell forwards. Luckly, Tolero caught him and BlackArachnia and threw the femme's body over his shoulder. He handed SilverBolt's now in stasis lock body and then shook his head. "This just keeps getting worse and worse.

"I know, Big T." Cheetor sighed as he started to carry SilverBolt back to the _Axalon II_.

Tolero followed the cheetah when something fell from SilverBolt's hand. "Hmm?" The bear bent down and picked it up. He unwrapped the item from its leathery like package and gasped. "NightScream!"

* * *

Rattrap gaped when he saw SilverBolt and BlackArachnia's bodies. His optics widened and his mouth fell farther when he saw what Tolero was carrying after the bear had put BlackArachnia down: NightScream's head. The rat blinked, stunned, and then looked at BlackArachnia. "Poor Legs…" He muttered. "Poor Screamer…" 

Tolero put NightScream's head down on a bed next to his sister's body and he clenched his fist. "That…monster!"

Cheetor placed SilverBolt into a CR Chamber and then looked at NightScream's head. The mech shuddered. "That…psycho and Rampage did this to them…"

"WHAT!" Rattrap yelled. "Orcus and RAMPAGE!"

The bear and cheetah nodded.

"We're all gonna die…"

"No." Everyone turned and saw Talon and Pantha looking at them. The feline looked at everyone, "We're not. We're going to fight this monster and stick together. He can't kill us is we stick together…"

"Yes he can! He's with Rampage and those two took down SilverBolt and BlackArachnia! We're not even sure if 'Bolt's gonna make it!" Rattrap growled.

Pantha looked at the ground. She swallowed and closed her optics. Tears fell.

Rattrap blinked, surprised.

Talon growled at the rat and then looked at all of the bodies of the dead mechs that Orcus had killed. Another growl escaped her throat. "I'll kill this bastard…" She snarled.

"Right now, we all need rest." Cheetor said softly. "Alright? Why don't we all just go and recharge?"

Pantha nodded. "Yeah. Rattrap, Tolero, Cheetor, Talon, go get some rest. I'm going to follow up on the lead NightScream reported before…" She trailed off and looked at the bat's head. "Oh Primus, NightScream…"

Cheetor glanced at the Maximal leader as he and Rattrap left the med bay. Talon walked out, but didn't go to her room. Instead, she waited outside the room for everyone else to leave. Tolero walked over to Pantha and made the young femme looked at him. "It's not your fault…"

"I feel like it is…" Pantha said softly, looking at the bodies, "I feel like…I should have stopped this monster before he killed this many of us…" She looked at Toler and sobbed once. "It's all my fault..."

"No it's not." Tolero said before bringing Pantha into a hug.

The femme wrapped her arms around Tolero's fuzzy body and buried her face into his fur. "Daddy…" Was the only word that she said as she cried into his ash black coat.

Tolero looked up and saw Talon looking at the two. He sighed and looked down at Pantha as the femme pushed herself away from him. "Thanks, Tolero, I needed that. Now, back to business…" The femme said, looking at the bodies. She turned quickly and walked out of the med bay.

Talon blinked and followed Pantha. "So…what's the lead you were talking about?"

Pantha sighed. _Can I tell her about Curator? After all, he never told me I couldn't…but he never said I could, either…then again, Talon'll think I'm crazy if I tell her about him…oh well. _The femme looked at her friend. "Well, he told me about…" She started to tell Talon the story that Curator had told her and then about the story from the news paper NightScream found.

* * *

TriDrac sighed as he and Waspinator walked through the base. He hated the bug even though he wore a Maximal symbol; it made him nothing more than a turncoat. What was to stop Waspinator from turning against the Maximals and going back to the Predacons? Nothing. The Komodo looked at Waspinator. "What the hell did Pantha say again?" 

"To tighten zzzecurity mezzzzzurezzzzzz…" Waspinator muttered. He knew the mech didn't like him, but it's not like he cared. After all, nobody at the Predacon base liked him when he was a Predacon, why should the Maximals like a turncoat?

"That's right…well, let's go get sentinel up an' running even better." TriDrac started a mental checklist, "We can…upgrade the weapons, turn the scanners on high alert…make it do scans of the inside of the building every ten cycles just incase something got in without its knowledge…got any ideas, Waspinator, of what else we can do?"

Waspinator's wings rose a little, but then drooped. "Wazzpinator don't got a zzingal clue…"

"Perfect…" TriDrac muttered as he walked over to a wall. The mech opened a hatch in the ceiling and started to climb up the ladder. He looked down. "You coming or not, Waspinator?"

"Wazzpinator coming, Wazzpinator coming." Waspinator muttered as he grabbed the ladder. He followed TriDrac up into the "ceiling" and then blinked as he looked around. "It'zzz like another zzzzhip up here…"

"This place," TriDrac grunted as he opened another hatch, this time, revealing a machine, "is hidden in case of intruders. It holds sentinel and also a few other things as well. Extra CR Chambers, a few escape pods if needed, ect, ect…"

Waspinator blinked as he looked around. He spotted a pod and walked over to it. Waspinator put his hand on the glass part of the pod and wiped the dust away. But before he could finish wiping all the dust away, TriDrac yelled at him to come help him. Waspinator buzzed once and ran over to the Komodo. "Lizardbot?"

"What?" TriDrac snapped. "Hand me that wrench."

Waspinator grabbed the wrench and handed it to him. "What'zzzz that?" He asked, looking at the pod.

"It's just a pod, Waspinator. Now, make yourself useful and find out how much we can increase the weapons systems without it over loading."

The wasp buzzed once and then flew over to a nearby computer. He typed in the code to get into the system and then did what TriDrac told him to, fingers flying over the controls.

"Well?"

"Lizardbot can increase power to the weaponzzzz by…" Waspinator blinked.

TriDrac growled as he stood up. "Move." The lizard pushed Waspinator out of the way and typed. "Got it. Heh. Guess you're not completely useless after all..." He snarled before going back over to the machine and back to work. TriDrac heard Waspinator buzz sadly, but ignored him. After all, he wasn't a Pred lover...even if that Pred was now a Maximal.

* * *

RG: Another chap finally finished! Whoo...14 pages... 

Pantha:...Whoopy doo.

RG:...You need to stop hanging out with DD, you know that?

Pantha:...

RG: Right...anywho, R&R, please. For if you don't, I shall attack you with my bazooka! Also, no Reviews, no new chap...

Pantha: Also, you don't review, Alex'll cry.

RG: I will not!


	8. Uh, takeover?

**Disclaimer: I don't own BW. I own Pantha, Tolero, Orcus, TriDrac, Curator, and this plot idea. Dragonsbane is Tahalli's and Talon is Storm Blue's.**

* * *

Pantha had finished explaining what NightScream and Curator had told her to Talon, the femme looked at her friend and blinked. "Well? Say something, please!"

"That's...whoa..." Talon muttered.

"I'm crazy, right? That's what you're thinking, isn't it?"

Talon shook her head. "No, it's not. Right now, I'd believe you if you said that it was raining pink dragons." She smiled. "So...who told you all of this? I know that the bat didn't. Primus rest his spark..."

Pantha sighed and bit her lip. "Don't call me crazy, but Orcus' brother did."

"WHAT!"

"His brother, Curator, who Orcus killed."

"He...killed his own brother?" Talon blinked. "That's low...and twisted..."

Pantha nodded. "He took over Waspinator's body and helped me out. As we hid from Orcus, Curator told me the story of him and his brother..." The feline sighed and looked at Talon. "Now do you still think I'm sane?"

"Yep."

Pantha almost anime fell, but managed to stay up. The femme looked at Talon and smiled. "Thank you, Primus! Someone who's not crazy that believes me!"

Talon laughed a little as Cheetor ran into the control room. "'Sup, Cheetor?" The owl asked the cheetah.

"SilverBolt's up and out of the CR Chamber, Pantha. He's ready to tell us what happened." Cheetor informed the two. "He's in his quarters..."

"Poor guy...Talon, would you-" Pantha started.

"I'm coming." Talon muttered, her face worried. "I wanna hear what the psycho did so I can enjoy it when I kill him..."

Pantha sighed. "C'mon, T."

Cheetor and Talon let Pantha lead the way to SilverBolt's room and, when they got there, they saw said mech sitting on his recharge berth with his legs hanging off the edge, looking at his feet. "SilverBolt?" Cheetor asked.

SilverBolt looked up and saw the three Maximals looking at him. He let out a ragged sigh and swallowed. "My friends..."

"Take a seat, everyone." Pantha said softly as she walked over and sat down next to the condor. The femme waited for Talon and Cheetor to sit down before she began to speak again. "SilverBolt, if it hurts too much, please note that I am not forcing you to tell us what happened right now. We can wait."

"No." SilverBolt held up his hand and shook his head. "I must tell it now or it will never be told. I have to do it...while I can..."

"Okay then. But please realize that we're not forcing you to and if you need to stop, you may."

"I know that. Thank you." The condor took a deep breath and began to tell the story. "After Rampage knocked both my love and me out, the two took us somewhere and we woke up some time later, strapped to two metal tables just feet apart from each other. Then our captors stepped out of hiding. Rampage and Orcus looked at us, grinning...oh their sick grins...all we could do was look at each other and...then at before. The pain...the torture...I was the first one that they tortured and the worst part of it all was they made BlackArachnia watch. I could see her terrified optics and her lips moving, begging the two stop, hear her voice breaking as I screamed...but they didn't. They wouldn't stop...I thought they never would, but after a while, they did. As I laid there, beaten and bloody, I heard Rampage say something about 'killing her himself'. Oh Primus...then I-I heard the worse sound that will forever haunt me...my love screamed. I looked. They were torturing her just like they did me...and like her, I begged them to stop, but my pleas fell onto deaf audios." He paused and swallowed, tears brimmed his optics.

"SilverBolt..."

"No. I must continue."

"Very well then." Pantha nodded.

"Rampage...looked at me and grinned as he and Orcus stopped torturing BlackArachnia. He said something to the wolf and then Orcus walked over to me. He grabbed me and forced me to watch as Rampage plunged his hand into her chest and...and..." SilverBolt stopped and then sobbed, burying his head into his hands. "He killed her right in front of me! Her screams...her pleading optics...slaggit, why didn't I protect her! I was her guardian! I was..."

Everyone in the room, other than SilverBolt, was gaping at said mech with horrified/pity filled optics. They all looked at each other and then looked at the ground. Pantha was the first to recover, but did not got into commander mode. Instead, the femme wrapped her arms around SilverBolt like she had NightScream and let the mech cry on her shoulder as she rubbed his back. "Oh, SilverBolt...I know, buddy, I know...jus' let it out..." She said softly. Pantha looked at her friend with hard optics. "Scan for that bastard and Rampage. Now!" She snapped, "I want him found as soon as possible!"

Talon and Cheetor looked at each other and ran out of the room as SilverBolt continued to cry. He finally stopped sobbing after about ten minutes and just looked at Pantha with lifeless, pitiful optics. "What do I do now?"

"I don't know, 'Bolt." Pantha said, shaking her head, "Get some rest. That's all I can say."

"Yes ma'am." SilverBolt nodded. "I will..."

Pantha stood up and smiled softly at the mech. "Don't worry, SilverBolt, I won't let these two get away for all the pain they've caused us...they will pay for what they've done. This, I promise."

"Thank you..." The mech sniffed before laying down on the recharge berth. He shut off his optics, but Pantha knew he wasn't going to get the sleep his beast mode and his mind needed.

"At least try to sleep, 'Bolt." Pantha said gently before walking out of the room, turning out the lights and shutting the door as she did so. The femme hurried over to control room. "Anything?"

"Nope." Talon shook her head. "Both Orcus," She growled his name, "And Rampage's signals are hidden from view...a blocker, most likely..."

"Great..."

Cheetor typed and then smiled. "Good news."

"Found 'em!" Talon and Pantha yelled at the same time.

"Uh...nope. But Tri and Waspinator got sentinel's power incresed." Cheetor said, smiling. "So if we're attacked-"

"Our butts aren't slagged...hopefully..." Rattrap muttered as he walked into the room. "Hey, boss lady. Bird lady."

Both Talon and Pantha looked at each other with a look that said "Where the hell's a REAL rat trap when you need it?" and sighed. The two shook their heads and Talon started to walk out of the control room. "I'm gonna go grab me some high grade and then get to work."

"On what?" Pantha asked, blinking.

"A project I've been working on ever since I got here." Talon shrugged before heading off to the rec room to get some Energon.

"Uh...okay?" Pantha shrugged. She looked at the others and shrugged before looking at the monitor again.

The others sighed and then went back to work. A moment later, a curse was heard and Talon ran back into the room. "I can't get to work yet."

"Why?" Rattrap asked, looking at the owl.

"My tools are missing." Talon deadpanned. She sighed and folded her wings behind her.

"Uh…guys…I got bad news…" Cheetor said gravely, causing everyone in the control room to look up at him. "Rampage has his spark back. All of it. Both parts."

"We get it!" Talon growled.

"Talon." Pantha looked at the owl, "Please." She looked at Cheetor, "How do you…"

"Inferno." Cheetor muttered, "He just commed. He wants us to come outside and talk. Says he has the Royalty's body…"

"Megatron." Waspinator's voice said softly.

Everyone turned and saw TriDrac, Waspinator and Dinobot standing in the doorway. Dinobot growled, "Megatron is dead…Rampage has his spark…who's leading the Predacons now?"

"My thoughts exactly." Pantha nodded.

"Let's ask Inferno." TriDrac suggested.

"Antbot?" Waspinator blinked.

"Yes antbot!" TriDrac snapped, "Who else, you-"

"Enough!" Pantha growled, "I've had enough of you acting like that, Tri! You, Waspy, DB and Talon are coming with me to talk to-"

BOOM!

Pantha yelped. TriDrac fell on his butt. Dinobot growled. Talon cursed. Waspinator eeped and jumped into Pantha's arms Scooby-Doo style. Cheetor let out a yell and then looked around. Dinobot growled again. "What was that!"

Pantha sighed and dropped Waspinator flat on his aft. "I don't know, but let's out find out."

"Where am I?" A femme's voice growled.

Everyone turned and saw a white, wingless dragon looking at them. Talon grinned like an idiot and glomped the dragon. "Dragonsbane!" The owl laughed.

Everyone blinked. The dragon looked at the owl that was on her snout. "Talon?" She blinked. "Where are we?"

Pantha stepped forwards. "I'll explain where we are and we we're here later, but right now we need to get to Inferno."

Dragonsbane looked at Talon and blinked. She raised an optic ridge.

"Like she said," Talon grinned, "explain later!"

"Let's go guys." Pantha said, walking away. "Talon. Dinobot. TriDrac. Waspy. We got an ant to talk to and a Rex's body to get."

TriDrac growled, but followed said mechs and femme. Talon looked at Dragonsbane and then walked outside the ship with the others. Once outside and in front of the ship, Cheetor, who had followed them outside, put his fingers to his lips and whistled a loud, shrill whistle that made everyone jump. Cheetor laughed weakly. "Sorry. That's what Inferno said to do once we were outside."

Pantha opened her mouth to reply, but a voice interrupted hers. "Maximals!" It was Inferno. The ant walked out of the woods, dragging something very large and heavy out of the underbrush. "I have the Royalty's body!"

The feline femme looked at everyone and then sighed. She looked at Inferno and nodded. "Inferno, Megatron's body will be safe here, I promise. Do you mind telling me what happened?"

Inferno growled, "The drone and the wolf came in and attacked the colony! They fought and killed the Royalty then the drone stole something from my queen."

"Which I figured was Rampage's spark because Inferno said that Rampage stuck it in subspace, whispering something about, 'the two halves being whole'." Cheetor stuck his two cents in.

Pantha nodded. "Go on, Inferno."

Said ant mech continued, "The drone and the wolf said that they were taking over and that anyone that dared challenge them could leave. Or die."

"So you left with Megatron's body." Talon muttered.

"Correct, drone."

Talon growled, but said nothing. Pantha looked at Dinobot, "C'mon. Help me get Megatron's body." She said, walking forwards.

Inferno snarled and stood in front of the thing he had pulled out of the woods, which was Megatron's body. "I will not let anyone harm the Royalty! Put down your weapons or prepare to burn!"

"Inferno, we won't…" Pantha trailed off and sighed. She pulled out her sword and then threw it away. "There. You win. Now may we come and get Megatron's body?"

Inferno growled and watched everyone else throw their weapons away. He watched the Maximals for a minute before putting his flamethrower away. "The Royalty's body be will be safe here, correct?"

Pantha nodded. "Yes. He'll be safe here." She said, and then paused. "Inferno, will you allow me to fix his body like I did for the others?"

Inferno looked at the bloody mass that was Megatron's body and then turned to glare at Pantha, "You may repaired his body, but-"

"I will not do anything else, this, I promise you." The feline swore. Inferno stepped out of the way and Pantha smiled. "Thank you, Inferno. Dinobot. Talon. Waspy."

The three names Transformers walked over to Megatron's body. They picked the mech's huge corpse up and struggled to carry him inside. TriDrac growled and, seeing that Pantha was glaring at him, walked over to the three bots and started to help the others carry him inside.

Inferno watched Megatron's body disappear inside the _Axalon II_ and flew into the air. He looked at Pantha as the feline femme picked her sword back up and put it away. The femme looked up at him and then swallowed. "Inferno. Don't do anything stupid, okay? Don't go rush after the two mechs just because you're angry."

Inferno looked at her and, seeing the general concern she had in her optics, sighed. "I shall not do anything I will regret." He turned and flew away, "But I will not let them get away with this."

"Inferno!" Pantha called, but sighed. He was too far away. The young commander shook her head and walked inside the ship.

"We're all gonna die." Rattrap snarled as he watched Pantha head towards the med bay where the other Maximals had just laid Megatron's body.

* * *

RG: Finally! Another chap! Anyways, this is chap eight...which I need a title for...anyways. I want to thank my sis, Storm, for the idea to make Orcus and Rampage rule the Predacons. Thanks, sis! Also, Tahalli, I put DB in for you so I want that review and box of pixie sticks. XD Anyways, you have read so now please review. Thank you.


End file.
